The 8th Wonder
by wayouttamyleague
Summary: Who's your hero? At Beckett's urging, Castle heads to bootcamp for cardiac health. Rick & Javi star in this romantic adventure, but can't 'save the day' without the humor & friendship of the whole Castle cast, plus. Set between S6xE19: Greater Good/E20:70's show. 2014 Summer Fic-A-Thon. M for Language & Steam, but fades to black before explicit. Fun in canon, not a crossover.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: You are invited to read the racy prologue to this story: Hubba, Hubba, Heart-stopper. Like many great tales, this one starts with a dude named Castle and a muse named Beckett. In this unusually long chapter, the main fic branches out to include the beloved & hilarious Rysposito, Esplanie, and other unusual dyads in the quest for peace, **__**justice**__** and a more amusing hiatus**__**. **__**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Homicide Detective Katherine Beckett and Master Sergeant Valedictoria Evans had a few things in common. Despite drastically different appearances, both were 'very good at bossing men around' according to millionaire lover boy Richard Castle. He was wrapped around their respective fingers upon meeting each.

In addition, both women rarely remembered their dreams. However, on the morning of Tuesday, April 1st, 2014, Beckett in New York city, and Evans 1500 miles south, were surprised by a vivid vision that would linger in their conscious minds.

*o*

"Alright grunts and detectives, time to roll. Report in."

Castle was eager to be first, "Ready on the beach."

Beckett concurred. "Ready, Hoax."

Cannon echoed, "Ready on the high ground."

Detective Ryan sized up his view of no less than 4 fully outfitted enemy combatants in his visor, "Ready in Tower Two."

Creedon reported in from the communications center, "Listening in."

Adnan mirrored his friend, "Ambassador in embassy suite."

Fitz refreshed his satellite uplink, "Tech live."

Kreuger answered, "I'm here with the pups."

Detective Esposito closed one eye to focus his telescopic sight, and aimed his sniper rifle on the door that Master Sergeant Kai-Rhee was about to open, "Tower One is go. I have visual on Valkyrie. Let's do this."

Hoax mounted the all terrain trike, Simon stood on the tail. He started his engine and motioned for Castle to follow. The leaner man bent over to Hoax' ear. "You gave _**him**_ gun?"

"Relax. It's just for show. He wants the photo op. I think his lady friend's the one packin'."

Richard Castle, feeling like every bit the American hero, mused to his fiance, "Why does a fortnight's worth of push-ups, a little army green face paint, and a four wheel all terrain vehicle make such a difference? I feel like Commando!"

"I dunno, Castle, could have something to do with the rocket launcher strapped to your back."

"Yeah, definitely that."

*o*

"What happened Monday night to bring on a dream like that?!"

"What happened Monday night to bring on a dream like that?!"

Kate and Kai-Rhee both startled awake with identical exclamations, and identical eye rolls, in reaction to the identical dream. As they floated disembodied over the scene, neither of them had any context for the emprise, nor all the people involved.

Both women, however, were crystal clear that the image of Richard Edgar Castle in army fatigues caused troubling interrobangs on many levels.

Before Kate rose to dress for work, she turned over to stare at the pillow where her fiancé's head usually rested. _'__Let__'__s hope Rick isn__'__t taking himself too seriously amidst all those military veterans. We want his heartbeat to get __**stronger**__ this week, not give it reasons to skip beats.__' _A familiar Ferrari came to mind, corrupting half her face with an ungovernable smirk. 'a_t least not until he returns home to me.__'_

Before Kai-Rhee attempted to leave her bed, she brought her knees to her chest one at a time to stretch her hamstrings. _'__If that joker, Castle, is gonna stir up trouble, I__'__d better keep an extra eye on him. Funny that I dreamt of Javi though__… __Guess it was inevitable.__'_

* * *

On an island off the Florida Keys, the wall clock read:

**Day 01 Hour 0600 Zone R Month APR Year 14. **

Under it a writer whimpered.

Rick Castle sat on a wooden bench, hunched over a picnic table in the mess hall style dining room of his bootcamp 'retreat.' He stared plaintively at the alphabet shaped cereal floating in milk in front of him as the letters rearranged themselves into mocking snippets of words. 'NY' floated across the bowl bumping into 'KB.'

He tried to work up the courage to grab his spoon and eat those tasty little letters, but the idea of lifting his arms repeatedly, even just the small distance between the bowl and his mouth, was making him wince before he even attempted the action. Internally, he whined in grammatical angst, _'__This is the worst birthday present I ever gave myself__…__ever.__'_

Echoing in his ears came Kevin Ryan's portentous comment from last week when Esposito had brought up the fact that his Special Forces trainer, codename Kai-Rhee, ran an elite physical training program for those with massive gall and a matching bankroll. Before Castle had talked himself into this now obviously misguided idea, Ryan had mentioned a very plain warning of what he could expect. In retrospect it was only too clear. However, only now could Castle hear Kevin's teasing comment for the plain truth it was. _'__I hear she makes them cry in their cereal.__' _

'_I need to thank the boys for suggesting that I need Miss Evans to whip my heart into shape before my wedding to Kate Beckett.__' _Despite the inestimable value of the mental focus meditations that the author had learned the day before, Rick's mind played out possible paybacks for the ungodly pain in his triceps.

The evil master who had brought him to this unenviable fate called out across the room, "Hoax! Can you please fix_ Mister Castle _something to save him from the scourge of all those carbs?"

"Sure thing, Sensei!" the large man shouted back through his easy, knowing smile. He gave Castle a quick almost imperceptible wink before he started darting amongst the gleaming stainless steel appliances of the commercial kitchen that adjoined the mess hall.

In a moment, Hoax was passing a towering glass filled to the brim with a thick golden concoction through the cut-out window. The young man they called Cannon, Castle's equally tall, but much more flabby cohort, transferred the glass to the table in front of the author and whisked away the untouched cereal bowl.

Rick sniffed the contents of the glass in an attempt to psyche himself up to lift brutally sore arms for the task. It smelled pleasantly like a Mango Lassi from his favorite Indian restaurant back in New York. The olfactory suggestion of something pleasant from home made the writer's features melt in gratitude.

"Here," Cannon added a fat straw to the glass, "This might help."

Castle immediately considered Cannon 'a keeper' for this little kindness, but he scanned the room to assess how badly his rep would be damaged if the other men, and the Master Sergeant, saw him accepting the short cut. He had no problem admitting his lack of omnipotence, but this little microcosm of military-esque male bonding had it's own rules. After observing yesterday's system of rewards and punishments for displays of acceptable and non-acceptable behavior, he was wary. And Richard didn't want a little straw to be the reason he garnered the 'gift' of another 200 push-ups, no matter how much he wanted to keep his hands in his lap right now.

The blue-black haired kid in his early twenties, called Kreuger, was sucking down a putrid green drink sans straw. Similarly, the two gentlemen cloaked in conversation at the far side of the hall, were also imbibing lips to glass. But the scrawny young man they called Fitz was using a similar conduit to sip his magenta hued smoothie.

Fitzy was certainly an outlier in the social stratum of this little group. The evidence was clear in his thick-rimmed glasses and silkscreened tuxedo t-shirt. However, Castle had previously observed the young man's keen mastery of just where the limits lie, and how he could push them to their furthest point without over-stepping, during the many drills they undertook yesterday. Rick happily took this flimsy shred of supporting evidence as plenty of encouragement to curl himself over his own drink and begin to suck it up _**without**_ the use of his aching appendages.

Castle's face lit up in surprise. Unlike most of his experiences the day before, this moment was downright delicious, a ray of liquid sunshine, and better than he could have hoped from it's smell. He sat up, craning his neck to catch Hoax in the kitchen.

The gregarious laugh of the big man shook itself through the hall.

"What's a matter, Castle? Did you think I was all brawn and no brains? I'm a man of many _**hidden**_ talents." He laughed at his own joke, even though he knew it was lost on the new recruits.

Evans snickered with him, as she chomped on a particularly crunchy piece of salad.

Spurred by her ominous dream, she took the opportunity to draw the writer in. "Did you think everything at Camp Krypton was here expressly for the purpose of torturing you, _Rick_?" She snapped off a crunchy carrot in her teeth to accentuate the image, unable to refrain from the fun of hazing one of the many spoiled rich clientele that sought out her help.

Castle marveled that in just one day, his new master had managed to so completely brainwash him with her tactics that he now winced at the mention of his own first name.

Kai-Rhee had made abundantly clear that real grunts earned their worth when they displayed enough prowess, skill and commitment to earn a nickname, as her assistants Hoax and Simon had. Three of his fellow campers, Cannon, Fitz, and Kreuger had been donned with this honor as well. Only Rick and the two men across the hall were still answering to their Christian names.

The acidic disdain with which his trainers said his name gave him all the motivation he needed to set his sights on earning a kick-ass pseudonym from Master Kai-Rhee as soon as humanly possible. Coming home to Kate with a sobriquet that he had earned with his body, instead of his pen, seemed like the perfect prize to give her in the bedroom. He was already fantasizing about his fiancé vocalizing her appreciation of his newly improved 'engine' by screaming whatever manly moniker Evans would undoubtedly be knighting him with by week's end.

'_Okay, maybe that prize is more for me than Kate,_' Castle admitted to himself as he shook the too tempting thought of naked Beckett out of his mind.

When his new sensei recognized the look of transgression flash across his face, she taunted, "You thinking of running back to Kate, _Rick_?"

"Why, yes, Master Sergeant, I _**am**_ thinking of my fiancé." He tilted his head with a reflexively charming smirk.

Casting his glinting eyes toward her beheaded vegetable, he countered, "But I'm not planning on reuniting with her until I've got the carrot _**you**__**'**__**ve**_ been dangling in terms of a nom de guerre. I've been wondering how it is that my fellow campers garnered their titles?"

"They've each got a story to tell, _Castle_. But it's not for me to share. I get to come up with the handles, but I don't own the grit they had to show in order to get them." She stood up from the table. "Besides, I wouldn't want to torture you needlessly with the 'total commitment rule' hanging over _your_ head like a rickety guillotine." She glanced at Castle's lap.

The writer gulped at the suggestion of something sharp near his 'man-parts.' He knew all too well that Kai-Rhee was reminding him that he wasn't allowed to write, network, contact home, or even masturbate during his time on her island. _'__Total commitment is your only job.__'_ The words in her disturbingly inarguable law-making voice, now etched into his memory, sent a quiver of dread up his spine as his mind replayed them.

"5 minutes 'til we trot, gentlemen!" Kai-Rhee announced before stepping outside.

The room erupted in fast moving men, finishing up their breakfasts and dumping their dishes into the bus bin.

Fitz stopped on his way out with advice for the newbie, "Better imbibe that quick, Castle. You're gonna need it. See you on the beach." He started out the door, but then turned around to add, "Oh, and you definitely wanna use the John before you head out there."

Cannon chimed in, "And sunblock, right Fitzy?" The big blonde rubbed a noogie out on the diminutive man's wiry hair before lumbering out of the room.

Fitz rolled his eyes at Cannon, and pulled up his shirt to reveal to Castle the word 'Fuckface' written in bright white skin across his chest, outlined by atomic pink sunburn.

"Good tips. Thanks gentlemen."

'_How on earth have these youngsters survived over two weeks of Valkyrie__'__s __corporal__ extortion?__' _ As the senior resident of this jocular, low-brow group, Rick braced himself for another day of gym class torture among the young and the wrest-less.

* * *

As Richard jogged along the sand with his 3 trainers and 5 fellow trainees, his insatiable curiosity began to bubble immediately, against direct orders. Undoubtedly, he'd never had an opportunity quite like this to meet such disparate personalities under these exceptional circumstances of combined duress and jocose bonding. And these 'men,' even if he had to use the term loosely, were a quirky bunch of specimens that seemed at first glance to defy neat categorization.

Certainly, Kai-Rhee had no stereotypical mold to fit into. All 5'4" of her muscular frame moved like a jaguar as she loped easily down the beach. With the battle scars and her uncanny ability to reduce men to puddles of compliant order-takers, she was a study in contrasts. Rick guessed that her elegant symmetry and soft copper skin might be the result of genes from The West Indies, maybe Creole blood, mixed with influences a little more hard-bitten. _'__In another context, where she wasn__'__t trying to intimidate me out of my skin, it__'__s likely she would still halt all the conversations at a party. If not with her beauty, than certainly with the river of confidence she un-dams to deluge a room.__' _

Richard's thoughts paused briefly on his sensei's admonishment not to 'write or plot,' before he decided to take those terms literally instead of figuratively. He rationalized that as long as he didn't take pen to paper and diagram the traits of his compatriots on physical evidence, he was safe from her wrath.

That's all the questioning Rick Castle bothered with before he started drawing a story board in his mind, so he could staple his observations of the group to an easy mnemonic device. But for some reason, rather than his digital home office version, the writer pictured their faces on Beckett's analog murder board at the 12th precinct.

That sent the author's mind on an indulgent errand,_ '__Oh Kate, what are you doing at work right now? Are you hunched over paperwork with that adorable little crease teasing your brow? Or staring at the white board with that far away look of deduction that I love so much?__' _

Castle was struck with a useless pang of jealousy for Esposito and Ryan who were undoubtedly at her elbows as she unraveled whatever mystery was keeping her busy this week without him. The selfish devil on one shoulder secretly wished that she'd have a terrible time with this week's case, because she _**just couldn**__**'**__**t**_ do it without him. '_Hmmm, even in my fantasies that sounds farfetched_.'

His team at the 12th was hard to leave for almost any reason these days. He blamed the wedding fast-approaching for making him sentimental. Even though he and Kate would be sharing a lifetime of experiences together in a host of contexts as husband and wife, their bond had 'grown-up' in that bullpen with Zito and Ryan close by. They were 'part of the furniture' in their relationship. After putting their lives in each others hands more times than he could count, he thought of 'the boys' more like family than co-workers. Unlike his daydreams of Kate, Rick's thoughts weren't concerned with what Rysposito was wearing as they contemplated evidence, but he did feel worlds better knowing that they had his intended's back in his absence.

'_Mmm, what __**is**__ Kate wearing right now?' _

Rick's thoughts must have been a little too distracting, because before he realized what was happening, he found himself tumbling headlong. Sprawled flat over scrub lining the beach, he spat out a mouthful of sand, without a hint as to what hit him.

* * *

"Little help, friend?" A suave, tan skinned man with a gold chain around his neck, leaned over Castle to offer his hand. A full head of feathered black hair, a distinguished prominent nose, and near sparkling smile awaited acceptance of his offer.

Rick nodded and clasped hands with the Middle Eastern charmer. After leveraging himself upright again, he brushed off the gravel that had adhered itself to the sticky sunblock still not fully absorbed on his legs.

"Those roots can be tricky," his Samaritan's stout ebony-skinned running mate offered, pointing at the culprit protruding from the path as it crossed into marsh grass. This man, obviously of African descent, had a shiny bald head and dark eyes both of which reflected the morning sun with a friendly down-to-earth demeanor.

The man who helped him up apologized, "Excuse me, where are my manners? My name is Adelphian Raj Adnan. And this is my closest companion Mister Robert Washington Creedon, the third."

"Hi there, Mr. Castle. You can call me Bob." The darker man held out a big meaty hand for a vigorous hand shake.

"So nice to meet you, Bob. Do I detect a hint of the South in your voice?" he probed.

"Yes sir. Alabama-raised for 18 years before I shipped out for my first encounter with a _real_ bootcamp. Speaking of, we should get a move on before we're missed. Care to carry on this conversation while we jog?"

"Nothing would make me happier." Castle was ever so pleased to be engaging with such interesting and mature fellows, since thoughts of Beckett were clearly a hazard to tarry with during exercise.

When all three of them settled into a synched rhythm Rick continued, "So, Bob, what brings you and your friend to this 'beautiful island resort'?" The writer's sarcasm elicited a chuckle from both of his new acquaintances.

Creedon responded, "Well, let's just say money, sloth and our mid-thirties made a terrible conspiracy right across our mid-sections while we weren't looking." The two friends exchanged knowing glances.

Adnan added, "But it didn't escape the notice of our wives, who were less than appreciative of our new physiques." He slapped the small abdominal pouch bouncing under his white T-shirt.

Creedon agreed, "It's not like I didn't notice entirely, but sometimes without a war to fight, it can be a little difficult to say 'no' to that one more frosty Mai Tai."

"Or that last coconut shrimp?" his friend chided.

"Or that extra week on the cruise ship with the five star chef." Creedon hung his head and shook it in the shame of lost self control.

Castle liked these self-effacing chaps already, "So, you were enlisted together? Is that how you met?"

Adnan supplied, "We met in Iraq during the war. Bob here has a special technical talent for listening in on conversations that might be of high value. And I was hired by the army to pick up on the nuances those conversations might be hiding, and predict where we might point Bob's x-ray ears in the future." Castle could see Adnan's obvious pride in their successful partnership.

"So, fast friends in the field, reunite for a week of cardiac cleansing?" Rick guessed.

Creedon joked, "Reunite? I wish. This joker has been Velcro-ed to my side for the better part of 10 years at this point." He turned to his well-groomed friend questioning his own math, "Is that right, Delphi, a whole decade?"

"That's correct. Met in '04. Made our first million by '06. Retired just before the bubble burst in '08. He's my good luck charm." Adnan pinched Creedon's round chin between his thumb and forefingers and gave it a little wag like a doting aunt, before Bob swat his hand away.

Creedon flexed his meaty arms while he continued jogging, "Don't make me unleash these dogs on you again, pretty boy."

Delphi laughed and let out a mocking wolf cub howl to show just how scary he found his friend's empty threat.

Rick waited until they finished their round of banter, before he continued his interrogation. "First million by '06, huh? How does a military salary parlay itself into that kind of money? If you don't mind my asking."

Delphi veritably beamed with pride, ignoring Bob's sheepish expression, "You see this genius here? He trained his high tech Spidey ears on exactly the opportune time and place that opened up a whole new world for this humble son of a University linguistics professor."

"Don't sell yourself short, Delphi. I could never have sweet talked those Dubai investors into building a state of the art water-park with only a few schematics as collateral. Your silver tongue built that first million out of thin air." He clapped his partner on the back.

Adnan's face melted into something a little lecherous, "I did so enjoy explaining the investment potential of water slides to the sheik's daughter."

"I bet you did."

Castle thought he was looking at the younger Middle Eastern equivalent of himself when he took in Delphi. He was a smooth talking, well groomed, ladies man who made his millions with a turn of phrase and tractor beam charm.

"So, what kind of name is Adelphian Raj, was it? Do you hail from Baghdad?"

"Yes, by way of Greece. My mother was a Greek actress who fell in love with my father's brilliant poetic mind." He winked his right eye at Castle. "Poppi was an author and taught at the Uni's in Baghdad. He and my mother were a love story for the ages." A faraway look paused Adnan's tale. "But when the Kurds and chemical warfare threatened in '86, my father sent Mitera and I back to Athens, until our city stabilized again. But, as you know, that never really happened to anyone's satisfaction. My great shame is that I smuggled myself back into Iraq to find my father without my mother's permission when I was 14. My father and I, we had to make our way without her for many long, lonely years. My father got lost in his books, and political discourse." His tone turned smarmy, "I, well, I used my words to gain entrance into the forbidden worlds of beautiful women, and sometimes, powerful men."

Now Rick was even more unnerved by the similarities he shared with his Greek-Arab compatriot. There were certainly parallels in their backstory, but Castle's mind was immediately drawn to the contrasts as he took in Bob's look of total support for his friend. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Delphi had found a life long friend to complement him in Creedon. It was clear that they loved each other in a way that only best friends with a lot of history can do.

On the other hand, most of Castle's 'bro's' were women. Even though he had uncountable poker buddies and definitely enjoyed his male friends, none of them were his missing pieces the way Ryan and Esposito fit together like nut and bolt.

Searching his heart, Rick realized it was his fiance, Katherine, that made him feel complete. _'__She__'__s the best partner I could imagine. In fact, the real Beckett is much better than I can capture in my books.__'_

Before meeting her, it was his daughter, Alexis, who anchored the world famous author to his best self. Rick realized in that moment that he no longer needed to stress about choosing a 'best man' for the wedding. It was obviously Alexis, who had been his better half for all these years. Only her bright-eyed blessing could shore him up for the next big leap of faith into his future. He made a mental note to ask his daughter to do him that honor at the first opportune moment.

* * *

Ahead of Castle ran his trainers, Kai-Rhee, followed by the hulking masses, Hoax and Simon. These three athletic specimens were followed by the motley band of twenty-something cohorts who had all earned their nicknames prior to Rick's arrival, Cannon, Fitz, and Kreuger. The three older trainees still laboring under their legal titles, Bob, Delphi and Rick, were bringing up the rear.

All nine runners had been trotting along the path in single file. They wound away from the beach, through denser vegetation, past a crow's nest look out, and over a hill that overlooked the lee side of the island. Castle was surprised to see a congregation of angular industrial buildings hidden there before the path lead them back to the beach.

When they could run side by side again, Castle queried to Creedon and Adnan, "Any idea what those misplaced megaliths were doing on a little tropical isle like this?"

"Financing it, most likely."

Delphi concurred, "I believe Kai-Rhee's little operation is granted use of this unique locale by some heavy hitters inside the military industrial complex. They built and own this little asylum from governmental control that we are standing on. Inside the edifices you saw back there are people who are no doubt shaping the future of war as we know it. It's better not to think about how they are going about that task, if you'd like to sleep at night." Creedon shook his head in agreement with his partner's warning.

Of course, telling Richard Castle _**not**_ to think about a implausible conspiracy involving the development of futuristic weapons by people with means enough to create their own UN exempt landmass was tantamount to asking Sisyphus' boulder not to roll downhill. Rick's imagination was swallowed up by the possibilities for the rest of their morning run.

* * *

Back in NYC, Javier Esposito procrastinated the opening of an email that had him a little nervous.

To: Det. Javier Esposito

Fr: Valedictoria Evans

Dt: April 1, 2014

Subject: A long time

The experienced NYPD detective leaned back against his rolling chair and squeezed his pen like it was a stress ball that he might crush, scanning the labels with as much skepticism as possible. Castle's birthday had become an annual festival of practical jokes over the last five years. Just because Rick was somewhere in the Atlantic neck deep in the best prank that he and Ryan had ever pulled off in the history of April Fools, did _**not**_ mean that the man wasn't capable of payback. It wasn't even 11 am yet, there was still a full hour of mayhem that could befall them. Espo's eyes were peeled.

"Yo, Ryan, you get any suspicious emails today?"

"Suspicious, how, exactly? If you mean our invite to the latest protocol debriefing on sexual harassment in the workplace, don't worry I RSVP'd for both of us. We just gotta remember to be down there by 2 pm, so we can get the good catering before it gets cleaned out. I don't want to get written up again because you can't let go of the last cream-filled donut. That was not cool, man."

"Hey, Perlmutter deserved that beat down. He _**knew**_ I was going for that vanilla cream. What kinda man stands between another man and his dessert? I bet he doesn't even _**like **_powdered sugar. He was just poachin' my goods 'cause I asked Lanie if he was gonna spring for that toupee come spring, _and that was Castle__'__s idea!_ It had nothing to do with my lunch. I'm tellin' ya…"

Ryan held up both hands in surrender, "Javi, Javi, calm down, bro. Nobody said Morgue Man was entitled to your vanilla creme. I'm just saying that we should get there early today, so that super glue isn't required to seal up anyone's forehead later."

"Well, it worked fine for him. Can't even tell that where that finky little brow split open."

Ryan looked around nervously, "Alright man, hush. We're just lucky to have gotten outta that one with some low-level bribery. Now, what kind of email are you talking about?" Kevin asked, hoping to redirect Espo's ire in a safer direction.

"Check it out, bro." Javier pointed to the preview pane so Kevin could read the same address headers he had.

Ryan's eyebrows lifted before he checked to see his partner's reaction. "Do you think Castle sent it to scam you?"

"I can't imagine how he'd get past the likes of Kai-Rhee, but I'm not sure what else to make of it." Espo's mind had already turned over as many stones as he could think of.

"Maybe it's not a scam at all, maybe she actually wants to talk you to, bro. Did you read it yet?"

"Nah, not yet."

Ryan watched his best friend stare at the screen immobilized.

"Well, do you think it might help to read the body of the message before you decide if it's really from her?"

"Sure, after noon, I'll read it."

"You're gonna wait a whole hour, just so April Fools jokes will expire?"

"Yep, not letting Castle dick around with me like this. If it is a hoax, I'll know by then and I won't need to retaliate in any way that _**my partner**_ might object to."

"Oh, well, Castle doesn't count. Besides, we already got him ten times worse than he got us last year because of your little bootcamp suggestion. Brilliant by the way."

"Thank you," Espo held out some hungry baby birds for Ryan to feed. Sending their smart-ass shadow to experience something like the hell that he, himself, had gone through to join the U.S. Special Operations Force definitely qualified for the highest level of fist bump between bros.

"Naw. I can wait." Javier pushed himself away from his desk and went to look for something sweet in the break room as distraction.

Ryan shook his head, talking to the files on his desk as he rearranged them. "Well, this next hour should be fun. Forget plowing through paperwork so we can go home early after the meeting." As he clicked closed open windows on his computer screen, Kevin addressed his own screen, "It was a pipe dream anyway. Only thing that might keep Espo focused now is a body drop."

Beckett strolled up and noticed Ryan talking to his desktop. "You okay, Ryan?"

He turned his over-smiling perpetually sleep-deprived new parent face toward her, "Oh, just peachy, boss. Javi's sugar loading over an imaginary prank that Castle hasn't even pulled, because apparently _**he**__**'**__**s**_ more anxious about the writer's birthday, than the writer is. But somehow that means I have to stay late and type up depositions. Unless, by some miracle, you are here to tell me that we've got a dead body."

"Sorry? Uh, no. No bodies." Beckett's face searched for sanity in that reply. Did she just apologize that no one was murdered? "I was just gonna remind you about the debriefing today."

"2 o'clock. Yep, Beckett, we'll be there." As she nodded and walked away with a confused look on her face, Ryan mumbled under his breath, "Yep, I cant wait to see how good Espo's 'listening ears' are working by the time 2 o'clock rolls around, if he's started down the path to sweet-tooth soothing _**this**_ early in the day."

* * *

Kate Beckett settled into her seat next to her best friend, Lanie Parrish. She noticed Esposito and Ryan at the back of the training room, already raiding the snacks that lined the tables along the wall.

'_It__'__ll be nice to be able to just sit down, and let someone __**else**__ lead.__'_ She was trying to go easy on herself in Castle's absence. At his suggestion, Kate was trying on the habit of giving herself the smallest amount of leeway to enjoy little things in life, like the fact that Lanie had reserved them the most comfortable chairs, and sharing a few sips of her friend's raspberry fizz during the speaker's opening remarks, before the lights turned off.

"What constitutes inappropriate advances in the work place?" The speaker read off the title of her first slide.

That was all it took. Kate's mind flooded with year's of Castle's not-quite-inappropriate but oh-so-distracting glances over the years. Then her mind drifted through her own mentions of ice cubes and hand cuffs. Oh, there were so many ways she loved to torture that man into behaving. She smiled at herself.

"When does physical touching cross the line?" Another slide appeared on the projector.

With that, Kate wasn't listening to the speaker anymore. She was shaking Castle's hand. No, he was caressing hers. The smooth sound of his deep baritone, mingled with desire, flushed her cheeks as her mind replayed, _'__This is me giving you a good night kiss__…' _

Beckett shifted herself in her seat to shake off the feelings that weren't really helping her focus, while glancing to see if the medical examiner was still paying attention. She found her friend's eyes fixed across the room to where Esposito was sitting next to Ryan. Parrish gave Beckett the smallest knowing pop of her eyebrows, as she continued to indulge in her favorite sport of Espo-leering. It dawned on Beckett, '_**That**__**'**__**s**__ why Lanie picked this row! No one behind her can see her line of sight_.'

Kate found it fairly adorable that Javier could unbutton all of her best friend's prim codes of conduct when no one was looking. Parrish was a brick house in all the best ways internally and externally, but she let Javi's heat burn her from time to time as long as there was no danger that he would catch on. After their failed attempt at dating, it was obvious neither of them could handle that, just yet.

Katherine checked out Lanie's target to see if either of the boys had picked up on the ME's attention. So far, both of them seemed to be focused on their lunch.

However, Beckett watched Esposito put down his sandwich when the speaker announced, "What is the appropriate course of action if you find yourself attracted to another person in the workplace?"

Espo swiped his hands against each other so the crumbs would fall back into his plate, and finished swallowing his last bite. He took a swig of his water bottle and used his napkin to wipe his mouth. Ryan looked over at his partner and indicated a silent '_You gonna finish that?_' Javier held back the sweets on his plate, but pushed the rest of it towards Kevin.

With another sip of his drink, the locus of Lanie's attentions seemed to be attempting an inconspicuous sweep of the room. Kate smiled at Espo's inability to remain incognito while he looked for Parrish. Javier had many talents, but flying under the radar was not one of them, especially not with attractive women.

Lanie began to blush a little and brought her hand up to cover her mouth, just in case she needed to shield herself when Javi's eyes met hers. Even though his broadcast movements were potentially embarrassing, Parrish agreed that the bold outline of Javier's passion in everything he did was an integral part of what made him stand out like a firebrand, while people around him could fade away into the drab grey-ness of modern life. It simultaneously drew Lanie in like a moth, and repelled her with heart-rending fear. She couldn't imagine how Javier could fit into her carefully planned life without wrecking things like a bull in a china shop. However, that didn't extinguish any of the middle-melting warmth that his presence invariably inspired in her body.

As his boss, Kate didn't need to see Javier's inappropriate bedroom eyes when they finally found Lanie. So, Beckett watched Parrish instead to see how this drama would unfold.

'_Oh, there it is. Lanie__'__s patented chastising glare.__'_ Beckett could spot the moment her friend's protective instincts kicked in, because the sinfully desirous expression turned instantly into a facade of disinterested disciplining for Javi. _'__Poor man, he doesn__'__t stand a chance against those highly evolved defensive mechanisms. Neither of them do.__'_

* * *

Apparently, Beckett and Evans weren't the only ones with something in common.

Richard Castle and Javier Esposito were both successful men. They had already proven themselves to the world. Each had found their calling, and accomplished their jobs above and beyond anyone's expectations of their humble beginnings.

Still, Rick and Javi had plenty to authenticate to themselves. Both craved to express long-repressed desires, dreams that their lives hadn't afforded room to this point.

When Katherine Houghton Beckett agreed to be his bride, Castle felt like he might be closing in on a piece of his designs, even though he knew better than to count his blessings until they walked down that aisle together. Esposito, on the other hand, had no idea that _his time_ might be just around the corner.

Having so much going for them, neither man would admit to dwelling on what they _**didn**__**'**__**t**_ have. Still, before drifting to sleep, both often closed their eyes with identical questions smoldering in their hearts:

'_Will I ever get the life I yearn for?'_

'_Will I ever get the life I yearn for?'_

* * *

_So, who's gonna get 50 bonus Espo-points for naming the episodes when Castle dared to call him 'Zito? _

_By far, this is the longest chapter. Thanks for reading to the end (obviously a sign of superior distraction-deference skills on your part)! _

_**Eternal gratitude to the many authors who've lent a hand to this baby: **__**JamieSpencer4**__**,**__** FuelDH206**__**, **__**GeekMom**__**, The Black Sluggard, **__**purplangel**__**, **__**CharacterDriven**__**, lousiemcdoogle, **__**TeaCakeAndHappyThoughts**__**, SelimPensFiction - and Detective Angie **__**dtrekker for cover art. **_Not sure how I got so lucky, but you KNOW you deserve all the fan-girl-ling in the verse for your support! 

_**Props to reviewers who encouraged a follow up to the Hubba, Hubba, Heart-stopper one-shot: **__**sugar free vanilla**__**, **__**southerngirl1**__**, **__**Supremelyorange**__**, **__**MLN**__** & **__**'**__**anonymous guests**__**'**_

_To the __'__real life__' __friends who held my hand through my first foray into full-length fiction, MC, ARC, MG, AS, WK, SH, SJS, TJS, Work friends, Co-op & Committee comrades, the nymphs & minions I have the privilege to live with: I pledge allegiance to the awesome life we__'__ve made together. _

_Hope you'll join along as we cajole our way to Season 7. Next up, the bro's banter about bedroom conquests, Martha waxes nostalgic about the 70's, and some 'bitch' hits on Kate's fiancé. Good times ;-)_


	2. Chapter 2

"Supply ship's here. Have at it gentlemen!" the Master Sergeant bellowed from the beach.

Tuesday evening marked the beginning of Camp Krypton's first celebratory dinner of the week. All 8 men ran down to the dock to help unload. Kai-Rhee walked leisurely behind.

Castle had caught on by now that personally deciding whether to be excited by something around camp was an utter waste of time. Groupthink was the name of the game when it came to keeping up with the schedule. Plus, getting caught up in the frenzy was the easiest way to make it through drills. If he fell behind, he would have to pep talk himself through his intense desire to sit down and take a nap. Staying in lockstep with the other men was a constant stream of pleasant distraction, helpful instruction, playful banter and ego riling dares to push himself. As long as he kept with the group, it was a piece of cake to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Cannon passed Rick on his way back from the docks with a heavy freezer box labeled 'Raw Meat' hoisted over his shoulder. "Looks like we'll be eating like kings tonight, Castle!" The big-boned chap used his free hand to rub his belly, intoning, "Mmmm-mm."

Castle mirrored Cannon's wide smile as they passed each other, surprised to hear the young man talking that way about food after losing his lunch twice during the 'burpee' exercise that combined vertical jumps with pushups.

He impressed Rick as a sweet, well-intentioned compeer. Despite his NRA T-shirt reading, 'Don't shoot yourself accidentally in the head, Moron,' Cannon was certainly the most affable of the group. Though the writer hadn't determined his age past the twenty-something range, he seemed like he possessed the youngest soul.

Unlike Fitz's caustic persiflage, and Kreuger's withdrawn skulking about, Cannon offered the group a hayride of open-hearted fun. Rick half-expected a bear-hug from him each time he won a challenge.

On the other end of the spectrum, Castle worried that Assistant Trainer Simon was someone dangerously unfriendly. While leading the afternoon's rope climbing activity, the man's face was a long mask of mirthless distaste for everything his charges did. Not a single one of them could climb the knotted rope as fast as Simon scaled that Kapok tree with his bare hands. When Castle finally struggled his way to the top and reached out his hand to touch the branch that the rope was tied to, his hand found instead Simon's foot as he stood arms-crossed on the branch. Rick couldn't read the source of the towering man's disfavor, but it unsettled a queer shiver up the writer's spine before he made his descent.

That's why Rick stopped in his tracks as he turned onto the dock and beheld Simon curled over on the gangplank receiving a series of loving licks to the face from a black Labrador Retriever. The crashing sound of Simon's laughter split the air and all Castle's misbegotten first impressions of the man.

"Musique, je vous manqué, garçon! Oui, vous avez manqué votre Popsie. Donnez-moi un baiser. Est-ce qu'on va faire ce soir ragoût? Oui, nous sommes. Avez-vous les os? Oui, vous le faites. C'est un bon garçon."*

Through the lilt of Simon's doting tone, Castle picked up something about a "good boy," and a "kiss," and maybe "soup." He realized that he hadn't heard more than a word from the tall intimidating man in the 2 days he'd been there. His stoney glare proved more enough to communicate all that needed to be said.

When Rick noticed that Fitz had stopped next to him, the writer mused, "Amazing how people light up around the ones they love." He gave it a moment's consideration before adding, "I wonder if I look as scary as Simon on the days I miss Alexis?"

Fitz answered, "Oh you were a sullen little puppy this morning, but don't give yourself too much credit, _Rick._ No one was terrorized while you were playing agony's bitch."

Rick slapped little Fitzy on the shoulder, "Thanks, friend. It's good to know I can count on you for perspective."

The smaller man started down the dock, "Anytime, Shakespeare. I'm here all week!"

\o/

* * *

The Tuesday night delivery held more than just fresh food and supplies. An air of lighthearted celebration overtook the whole camp as the boat's contents were unloaded.

Rick laid down the heavy banana stem he had slung over his shoulder on the kitchen counter, taking care not to the bruise the 3 dozen bananas on the underside hands.

Hoax came over to inspect the enormous bunch, "Thanks for taking care of my babies, Rick. Tomorrow morning's red devil blend wouldn't be half as palatable without these little life-savers. They are probably the only reason you can lift your arms right now." He gave Castle a wink as he hung the bunch from a massive hook in the ceiling.

"So, is this your kitchen then? I haven't seen anyone else in here since I arrived." Castle's ever-curious nature loved to put together the details that turned the cog wheels of motivation for his companions.

"Mostly, but tonight Simon is treating us to campfire Nigerian cuisine al fresco. You are not gonna believe the things he can do with skewers and a hanging pot. His groundnut stew had princes begging for the recipe last time he cooked it for us."

The other man's rave was interrupted by a whimper and scratching sounds at the back door. "Excuse me," Hoax went to let in the impatient creature. A bright-eyed German Shepard bounded inside and jumped right up on the author, placing a paw on either of his shoulders, as if she were ready for a dance.

Hoax chided, "Harmony, now have you been properly introduced to Mr. Castle yet? Or do you just assume that every bachelor here is fair game."

Rick pet her head and stroked her glossy coat. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Harmony, but I'm engaged. I'm sure you'll make some lucky fellow very happy though."

The dog barked once at the ceiling before she jumped down and ran outside, again.

Hoax smiled at Rick's good natured acceptance of his girl. "I don't know. You two did make a handsome couple. And she just came back from a full day of grooming. I bet your girl back home doesn't have hair as pretty as that." Hoax laughed.

Castle was happy for the chance to brag since extravagant boasts appeared to be their own kind of currency on the isle. "Oh my good friend, does the term 'hairporn' mean anything to you?"

"Ha! Well, I look forward to Friday night's supply ship then. It's been a while since something tug worthy came off the docks, unless you count the honeys I brought back with me from Miami."

Rick didn't hear anything past the first few words. "Wait. What's happening Friday night?"

"Visitors, my good man, visitors." Hoax watched Rick's eyes widen across his face, so he added, "and they bring alcohol, lots of alcohol."

Castle did the math quickly in his head, "That's just three days away. Hoax, help me out here. How am I gonna earn a nickname in just three days?"

"Oh, you'll get your shot soon enough." He hoisted half a frozen cow over his shoulder and opened the walk-in freezer. "And if you blow it, there's always next week."

\o/

* * *

"Oh, for the love of St. Teresa, would you just open the damn email already?" Kevin had had enough of Esposito's lame attempts to distract himself, especially since Ryan was losing 20-9 during their current game of waste paper trashkett ball.

"It's probably not even from her," Javi defended.

"Fine. If it turns out to be a wire transfer scam from the Prince of Algiers, we can have some fun describing the jail time entailed in bribing and defrauding a police officer."

Javier's tone was dismissive, "What could she want to say to me after so many years have gone by?"

"That's an excellent question, but I'm guessing there's an easy way to answer it, since the title of the email is '_**A Long Time.**_'" Kevin paired his sardonic tone with a finger pointing at Javier's screen.

"Do you think there could be another person named Valedictoria Evans? I always thought her name was kinda unique, but…"

Exasperated, Kevin stood up. "Ya know what? I'm going home," he said, putting on his jacket. "If you need to cry over a beer later, you can call me. I need to see Sarah Grace before she goes to bed." Ryan walked out of the bullpen with a brown paper bag filled with the donuts he and Javi smuggled out of the debriefing earlier in the day.

"K, bro, see you tomorrow." Espo waved without taking his eyes off the screen.

After his partner left, the bullpen seemed much darker and quieter. Espo looked down at his middle finger tapping impatiently against the mouse without letting it click. A pang of guilt washed through him, emptying out his stomach of its full sensation for the sixth time that day. He looked around for another donut. _'__Wasn__'__t there a whole bag of them on Kevin__'__s desk a few minutes ago?__' _

He rubbed his hands up and down over his forehead, hoping he just needed a little readjusting to find his courage. Then his hand reached out and clicked the mouse of it's own accord. He rolled his chair closer to the screen, eyes focused.

\o/

* * *

Hello old friend,

Thanks for sending me this pathetic excuse for a grunt, named Castle. I almost broke him the first day, but I think he might just make it through the week with the proper motivation.

He tells me you know a woman named Kate who might be willing to help me reward him if he does manage to survive until Friday. Would you mind asking her if she'd be willing to visit for the weekend?

There are two tickets to Miami attached to the bottom of this email. I hope it works out.

Peace,

Kai-Rhee

ps. I can pass on short 'inspirational' messages to Rick. Just reply if his friends there have something to egg him on with.

* * *

BECKETT, KATHERINE H.

Confirmation Code: CFZPC9

**Friday****, April ****4****, 20****14**

**Miami Air Charter**** # 97****1**

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Miami International Airport (MIA)

**Departure (JFK****):** April 4, 11:05 AM EDT (morning)

**Arrival (****MIA****):** April 4, 2:14 PM EDT (afternoon)

APIS (Advanced Passenger Information System) available through this link.

xxx

* * *

ESPOSITO, JAVIER

Confirmation Code: CFZXN8

**Friday****, April ****4****, 20****14**

**Miami Air Charter**** # 97****1**

John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Miami International Airport (MIA)

**Departure (JFK****):** April 4, 11:05 AM EDT (morning)

**Arrival (****MIA****):** April 4, 2:14 PM EDT (afternoon)

APIS (Advanced Passenger Information System) available through this link.

xxx

* * *

^Private Car service available for the parties described above with the use of code: VALKYRIE-REC-2014

xxx

* * *

Kevin's phone lit up, alerting him to an "Incoming call from Javier E."

He answered, "So, what'd she say?"

"Nothing. I mean she mostly just dissed Castle. But, bro, she sent me a plane ticket."

"Whoaaaa. I wouldn't say that was nothing."

"Right? Private chartered plane from JFK to Miami on Friday morning."

"So, you going? I know you have plenty of vacation time."

"I dunno. It's not weird, right? For a guy to let her buy something like that? Doesn't make me like _**an escort**_, does it?"

"Nah, bro. Think of it more like an all-expenses paid booty call."

"Yeah. That's what I thought."

Kevin proposed, "Besides, she probably just tacked the charge onto Castle's invoice as a travel expense. It's worth going just to exploit that."

Javi expounded, "So, you'll need to hold down the precinct til Monday, cause Beckett's coming with me."

"Seriously? No Madden rematch _**and**_ no new cases to keep me busy? You do remember that this is the weekend Jenny goes to host alumni week at her alma mater, right? I'm not even gonna see much of Sarah Grace since Jenny's parents and my sisters already called dibs on the whole week." Kevin sighed. "The first weekend I get to relax in comparative bachelorhood and _**all**_ of my team is going to be in southern latitudes with their toes in the sand? Don't tell me I'll actually have to finish the honey-do list she's made me, or get caught up on paperwork."

"Sorry, man. You could just _sleep_ for two days. Get rid of some of those new-daddy circles under your eyes."

"Is it sad that that actually sounds like more fun than The Keys?"

"A little. But I'll bring you back a souvenir or something from the beach, _**if**_ we actually make it outta her cabin." Esposito wasn't at all sure that's where he would end up, but there was no question in his mind that this was the best way to paint it to Ryan.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure I'll hear all about it when you whoop my ass in Darts-N-Hearts, again. It's really not a fair game now that I have kids."

"Bro, it was never a fair game."

Kevin protested like a wounded adolescent. "Hey, you could never top the twins in Kennebunkport."

"If I'd a been there, I'd a 'topped' em."

Esposito grinned at himself. _'__Oh, Kev why do you make it so easy?__'_

Kevin chortled. That's why his job, though filled with endless thankless tasks, was never quite as boring as it could have been. They could do this all day.

Javier shifted into a more sincere tone, "Don't feel bad, bro. You've got every night with your pretty blondes now. My chances don't come so close together, so I just gotta make the most of 'em when they come my way."

Ryan's heart sank a little. He didn't mind getting the worst of Javi's banter when it came to women. Kevin knew it was partially a cover up for jealousy. He didn't think Esposito necessarily wanted what _**he had**_, but he thought maybe his friend wanted the option to turn it down, or at least decide for himself.

Despite Kevin's peg as the younger and greener detective, in some respects his life was fast tracked well ahead of his partner's. When he'd first met Javier, both of them were chasing girls and laugh riots in their off hours. A guilty smile kidnapped Ryan's features whenever he remembered the early days. _'__Oh, the barely legal trouble two handsome gents can get into, when Castle isn__'__t there to distract the ladies with all his infuriating __'__Castle-ness!__'_

In the years interim, Ryan had married Mrs. Right, made amends to Mrs. Not Quite, and survived a brush with death that focused him squarely on devoting every day of his second chance to his wife and newborn daughter. Coming from a big Irish family, Kevin fell into family life as naturally as a frog falling off a log. Choosing _**who**_ to marry was the pertinent question. **When** or **whether **never entered his mind.

Redirecting Espo to the good news of the evening, Kev questioned, "Does that mean no dinner at your mom's this weekend?"

Ryan loved Javi's mom, whom he considered the benchmark for intestinal fortitude in terms of difficult parenting situations. She survived the trials of raising a hellion in a tough neighborhood, long after Javier's dad retreated to Florida. _'__If she can do it, I can do it,__'_ was the admonition that pushed Ryan out of bed for countless sleepless nights when colic threatened to drive him insane those first few months with his baby girl. Plus, her cooking was stupendous, just as his friend billed, _'__Looks like hot trash, but tastes like heaven.__' _

Javi encouraged, "You can still go, if you want, but I don't think my plane gets in until late Sunday."

Ryan wouldn't mind checking up on her in Espo's stead. She always had a collection of jars that needed opening. Kev was never really satisfied with the level of appreciation he could offer. Not only did she afford him the world's best partner and friend, the pre-cooked meals she sent over in the month after Sarah Grace arrived were life savers.

When buying Christmas gifts last year, Kevin got choked up at the jewelry counter, staring at tokens in his meager price range. _'__She deserves a halo for not giving up.__'_ Wiping a tear out of one red-rimed eye before the clerk noticed, he settled for an amethyst heart pendant held by two gold hands with a crown on top for Espo's mom.

In lieu of a time machine, tickets to the season home opener would have to do for his best friend. _'__Can__'__t box up a game of catch, or an old man to see Javi graduate basic.__'_

Kev verified, "You'll still be back in time for Monday's game though right?"

Esposito had been looking forward to seats on the first base line and a Yanks over Baltimore victory for 3 months. "Of course! There'd have to be more than ex sex on that island to keep me away, bro."

\o/

* * *

Javier's call to Kate to tell her about the plane tickets had interrupted dinner with Alexis and Martha. Quickly, Beckett agreed to think it over, but didn't take anytime for that before she rejoined Rick's mother and daughter at the dinner table.

Prompted by the detective's distracted focus, Martha queried, "So, dear, something important?"

"Uh. No." Kate managed to pull herself back to Martha's engaging eyes. "That was Esposito. The camp where Rick is staying wants to fly us down this weekend for a sort of celebration, assuming he makes it through the week."

"Well, doesn't that sound nice. The Keys are lovely this time of year, just before it get's too ghastly hot. Did I ever tell you about the time Jim Buffet and I stole a pleasure boat to get to a friend's wedding on Duck Key?"

Kate glanced uncomfortably at Alexis with a silent prayer that this story would at least skate the line of appropriate for intergenerational dinner table talk.

Even though she hadn't heard this particular story before, Kate was familiar with the musician and his penchant for singing about frosty island beverages. As Castle reassured himself while packing, 'The Keys and Buffet go together like tequila and lime.' Rick had throughly convinced himself that 'it's 5 o'clock somewhere' was the international date time stamp for anything that happened in Buffet's latitude and somehow extended that flight of fancy to include Kai-Rhee's island.

Martha didn't notice Kate's concern, as she shifted into reminiscent high gear. "It was back when The Keys were barely a blip on the tourist scene, mostly undeveloped. And well before the world had heard of parottheads. Jim and I were just babies. It was the early 70's. Hippies were camping out in tents all along the causeway that lead down to Key West."

Martha took a sip of her wine before she continued, "That was a different era, so the details are a little fuzzy, but I hooked up with Jim and his friend Jeff somewhere along the way. And one thing lead to another until there we were, stranded on the island. All three of us dolled up in our white gauze shirts and dresses, flowers in our hair, but no way to get to Duck Key cove. Naturally, something needed to be done." Martha tapped the table dramatically.

Kate exchanged a sophic glance with Alexis.

The older redhead lowered her voice conspiratorially, "I took note of a vessel whose owner had gone below decks to sleep off his midday bender, and knew immediately that fate had placed it there in our path. By the time anyone realized that we didn't own the boat, we'd already witnessed our friends happily wed."

Alexis asked the obvious, "Did you get in trouble, gram? Was the owner mad?"

Martha's eyes grew triumphant, "When our unwitting water taxi finally woke up, we just invited him to join us for the feast. And you know what? He loved it, probably the best time he'd had in years. He got up in front of everyone at the reception and sang _'__Time In a Bottle__'_ for all the guests while Jim and Jeff backed him up on guitar. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. Kismet, I tell you!"

Bringing one hand to her chest, the actress swooned in nostalgia. " Mhhh, that decade was just filled with magic and heartache. What I wouldn't give to visit it again, just for a taste." Martha's mind wandered off to get lost in the time warp.

Alexis, noting that her gram was no longer in the conversation, turned to Kate. "Are you gonna go? Visit dad?"

"I think so. I'm partially responsible for pushing him into this. And from what Esposito tells me, your dad may be in over his head."

Alexis shrugged, "Isn't he always?"

"Yes, but I get the sense he is more _out of his element_ than he's been in awhile. Plus, it might be nice to see each other for a little relaxation before wedding plans really start to make our days hectic."

\o/

* * *

After dinner, Kate made her way to the roof of Castle's building to get a quiet moment with her thoughts. Mainly, she wanted to consider whether taking a personal day on Friday, which entailed a jet, a car, and a boat ride was really the best thing to do. She would need to spend most of Sunday traveling back. It was a lot of effort for one overnight date, no matter how tropical the destination.

A bright sliver of moon was descending in the west, asserting it's natural beauty over the soulless city lights. Kate leaned her arms on the ledge of the brick half-wall that held her safely away from the dangerous height. She stared at the crescent, imagining Rick would be walking up to rub her arms and hug her from behind, if he were present. The thought made her feel safer and more lonely, at the same time.

Meanwhile…

Rick wandered away from the boisterous group gathered around the campfire. The curls of smoke, snapping of sparks flitting skyward, and good food made the campers forget how very sore their muscles would be come morning.

Simon's stew and skewers of perfectly singed meat had opened up everyone's best mood. Even Kai-Rhee permitted herself some subdued smiles when their canine friends Music and Harmony sang for their dinner with a howling chorus conducted by Hoax.

The thin moonset left the dark sky to blaze with more stars than Castle ever got to see in the city, or in the Hamptons for that matter. This isle was a deep recess of the world compared to the places he called home. The calm lapping of waves on the shore called to him. He reveled in the boyish freedom to wander purposelessly to the shiny glints of silver on the water.

He noted that he had no nagging feeling that when he followed his distraction it would be inconveniencing someone else. Not that it usually stopped him either way, however, the full permission of knowing he was perfectly in step with this moment, without burdening another, made his heart bubble a little. Rick's heels bounced off the sand as he walked his buoyant heart toward the ocean.

The sultry night breeze on his skin, the blood pumping fluidly around his whole body, and the pride of knowing he was doing something good for their future, conspired to bring Kate's image to his mind. Castle wanted to wrap his arms around her and breathe in her scent as she felt this warm wet wind on her skin. He wanted to help Kate feel as free and safe as he did right now, if he could. Even if this island didn't inspire the same emotion in her, somehow, someday in their future, he wanted to give her this deliciously satisfying feeling. It felt like all the things she never allowed herself.

He gazed at the moon to send it this silent prayer. Even if his all too human mind forgot, and tonight's sensations got lost in the swirl of synaptic overwrites, the new moon would remember on some cosmic level. When he thought of Beckett as his soon-to-be-wife, his heart believed in magic like that.

\o/

* * *

_*translation from French: "Music, I missed you boy! Yes, your popsie missed you. Give me a kiss. Are we gonna make stew tonight? Yes, we are. Do you get the bones? Yes, you do. That's a good boy."_

_10 NYC points each for citing the final score of the 2014 home opener OR how you managed to distract yourself during the 3 interminable weeks between S6xE19 and E20._

_**Thanks to Detective Angie dtrekker for the colorful cover art! More evidence that we find ourselves in a talented, heroic fandom, IMHO.**_

Next Up: What is Beckett forced to drink for her caffeine-fix when her writer is out of town? How did Espo meet Kai-Rhee? How much does Richard Castle know about tweeting?


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm ambivalent about the need to warn that one of these characters happens to like men. However, in the interest of as much tolerance and understanding as possible, I will note that this fic stays entirely Het in all its romantic/steamy moments. Past that, it is up to the reader to decide how they choose to receive little Fitzy. **

* * *

"Pair off, grunts. You've got two hours."

Kai-Rhee had rearranged the social dynamic for Wednesday's exercise with 3 dyads of young guy/older guy. Castle and Fitz had been charged with the task of collecting 300 pounds of rocks, and hoisting them back to base camp in a rolling cart. On the way to the hill where they went to start their collection, the scrawnier man towed the cart easily like a horse and carriage. Castle already knew his small counterpart would be expecting him to trough it back like an ox, once it was full. Fitz took every opportunity to play an angle that would get him out of heavy lifting.

As they made their way up the hill, the young man blabbered on about too many things for Castle to keep up with. Rick caught snippets about the young man's software company, his recent migration from Northern to Southern California, how out of place he felt in LA, something about Hoot Sweet Patches (whatever that was), and needing to roll out 2 new updates by Sunday. Honestly, Rick started zoning out as soon as the rant started. It was clear Fitz was having a monologue that didn't require the writer's contribution.

Eventually the junior orator noticed his tyranny. "Sorry, Castle, I snuck in some coffee today after my smoothie. Total contra-band. Chances are good I'll be fairly obnoxious, and gratingly upbeat, for the rest of the afternoon."

Rick's eyebrows went up. "You mean _**real**_ coffee? Not the substitute ersatz that Hoax has in the kitchen?" Castle immediately didn't mind whatever over-sharing Fitzy planned to torture him with.

"You want in?"

"On coffee? Is the pope Catholic?"

"I dunno. Never met him. But maybe we can work something out. What do you do IRL?"

Castle cocked his head to the side. "I'm afraid your acronym is lost on me. Remember, I have a daughter about your age. You might need to translate."

"Right. Lemme know when you need subtitles. IRL. In Real Life. What's your gig?"

"Ah, I see. I'm a writer."

"Like a blogger?"

"No, like a novelist."

"So, how do you afford Sergeant Overcharge? I've never met a lit type with that kinda bank"

"Um." For a moment, Castle considered illuminating the young man about the many examples that would expand his horizons on this subject, but thought better of it. It would sound like snobbery, and date him horribly. Castle was more interested in that coffee. Rick simply replied, "Mystery novels."

"Wait, Rick Castle, as in Richard Castle? Jameson Rook, Nikki Heat, like that?"

"Yes. Among others. You've read?"

"Mm, no, not exactly. I was crushing on this guy for awhile that was an uber fan. He used to send me slashfic about your characters. And he had a picture of you up in his closet, but I'm guessing it was from a looong time ago."

Rick gritted his teeth and produced his most gracious smile. _'__Oh, the things I__'__ll do for coffee.__'_

"Oh, sorry man. I warned you, obnoxious. I've been here almost four weeks. My caffeine tolerance must be critically low. I didn't mean you aren't attractive now. I mean, your not _my_ type, but I could see you getting your play from the right audience."

Castle couldn't stay mad at the young programmer. Over the last two days, he had already come to respect the man for his tenacious adherence to independent thinking, even though he often paid too dear a price for it. "Aww, Fitzy, I'm crushed." Rick placed his palm on his chest in a display of unrequited love's mock pain.

Fitz smirked sourly, "Damn. My social skills are in the toilet. That's why I'm the only millionaire I know that can't keep a boyfriend. Well, that and my Adonis-like physique." The wiry man flexed a taut but tiny bicep.

Rick smirked, bent down to grab a foot-long rock, and tossed it into the cart. Ah, more coy reasons to forgive his fellow quarry man for his missteps.

"Can we start over?" The shorter man approached Castle with his arm outstretched to shake his hand, "Hi, I'm Fitz. Software Developer, uber-nerd, borderline Aspertypical, not a fan of exercise. Pleased to meet you."

"So happy to make your acquaintance. Castle, Writer, conspiracy geek, borderline Attention Deficit Disorder, fan of coffee. Shall we exhume some boulders this afternoon?"

"Love to." Fitz lobbed a medium sized rock into the cart.

After each of the men had deposited another dozen pieces of sediment into their rolling receptacle, Castle's curiosity just _had_ to break the peaceful silence. "So, what's keeping you here three weeks later? You've already got your grunt name from Kai-Rhee."

A wry smile covered up the young man's face. "Well, if you couldn't tell already, than I'm doing better than I thought with my self-regulation."

Fitz pursed his lips and took a moment to consider whether or not it was wise to let the writer in on his charade. Being 'different' meant that every introduction could potentially result in a brutal hate-fest. The young man was confident in himself, but also realistic about what it took to recover from the receiving end of hurtful words. Most people could be 'tolerant' up to the point of generalities, but getting into specifics put him at much greater risk. This island was too small, and the regimen too demanding, for that kind of aftermath.

He decided to ease into his story from the beginning, and feel it out from there. "Originally, I came because apparently money really_** isn't**_ enough to attract the kind of guy I'm interested in. The scene in LA has some serious body image issues. But I had no idea what I was getting into with Kai-Rhee. I was ready to bail the first day."

The author comported complete sympathy for the inclination to flee. "What made _**you **_change your mind?"

Fitz decided to risk some honesty. "Um, something beautiful emerging from the ocean, dripping quiet angst and water droplets, like some undine demon to torture me."

After half a beat, Rick put it together. "Kreuger?"

"Don't say his name so nonchalantly, like it doesn't stake my worthless little heart."

Rick's sympathetic smirk was turned quickly to more curiosity. "Does he feel the same?"

"He has no idea. Well, at least that's the line he plays. Goths can hide so much under their sulky silence and long bangs. I don't know what he knows. I know I lend a hand when he gets stuck. And run defense if he kicks up Kai-Rhee's temper. Buuut, I'm not terribly hopeful." Despite his business success, Rick's counterpart wore the expression of someone _very_ used to disappointment when it came to romantic relationships.

The programmer continued, "There's a good chance that he'll _never_ be cognizant. We've spent 24 days side by side, busting our seams open together, but I get the feeling I could keep saving his ass for years, and he still wouldn't notice that **I****'****m right here**."

Fitz was still busy digging, but the familiar word choice stopped Castle in his tracks. A twinge of heartache for the younger Kate, who had pushed him away for so long, rifled up through the writer's breastplate. Rick softened for the young man's predicament. Clearly, Kreuger's standoffishness could not be compared to the platinum Beckett shield that he himself had spent years hatcheting through. Still, a slightly protective notion secretly shot out from Rick's heart to cloak the young man. That feeling of being unseen by the only person your eyes would let you focus on, it was a cruel companion.

Castle could sense his silence was allowing Fitz to put himself through the wringer with heartrending inner dialogue. He searched his mind for a topic of merciful distraction for his comrade.

"So, how is it that a software entrepreneur can seclude himself on a wifi-free island for almost a month? Isn't that like half a year in tech time?"

Fitz immediately popped out of his broody contemplation. "I know, right? It hasn't been easy. I don't have the luxury of backing off my profit engine for a holiday right now, either. My current projects are all financing a much bigger R & D for the next gnarly monster I wanna bite into. The Friday boat will bring back my business partner and my numbers guy for another 50 hour work binge." He beamed proudly, "We've rolled out two major updates and a stock report since I arrived here, all without tanking our media plan."

"Wow." Castle wasn't really sure what Fitz's work entailed, but certainly admired anyone who had the focus to do anything whatsoever besides collapse into hibernation after a long day with Kai-Rhee.

"Yeah, thank God for TweetDeck."

Clueless, Castle asked, "Is that someone you work with?"

The young man's face screwed up. He answered with a slow timber of uncertainly, "Um, no, it's how I keep my daily twitter metrics at the grand mark without access." He looked at Castle like he had suddenly started speaking in tongues.

Fitz stopped Rick with a concerned palm to the writer's chest, halting him with all the seriousness of a medic checking for signs of illness. "Wait, you do **tweet**, right, Castle?"

\o/

* * *

Ryan greeted Esposito with a sly dog look when the older detective strolled into the bullpen Wednesday morning. Kevin leaned back against his chair, hooking his armpit over one side, and started tapping the eraser end of his pencil on his desk with a twitch of his fingers. "So, how's our most eligible bachelor this morning, now that the demand for A-Rod's has gone up?"

Esposito took the pencil out of his friend's hand and marked his lunch bag. Without looking up, he said, "I don't know what your talking about, Twilight." He handed the pencil back to Ryan, mentioning, "I've been in demand since before you learned to talk."

The more seasoned detective headed toward the break room to store his food, adding, "Don't tell me your gonna miss me so much, that you've already started obsessing."

Kevin shook his head, smiling as he returned to the form he was filling out. _'Now the day can start in earnest.'_ His partner brought all the zest to their tedious work. Being a junior detective was a lot like being a glorified roadie that occasionally got to take the stage as the opening act. It was hard to get himself amped up to fight crime with a long list of cold calls and deposition long forms.

But none of that bothered him with Javi around. A canvass of local laundromats could turn into the time of his life, if Espo was of a temperament to play. Even better were the times his partner was taking himself too seriously, because that opened endless possibilities for ridicule hilarity.

On those days when Kevin _**did **_overanalyze their relationship, he had realized that the hours they spent laughing so hard that tears streamed down their faces were the ones that attached them to each other. Of course, there were much more serious reasons why Ryan would take a bullet to save Espo, but those times of laughter made it easy to jump first and think about the implications later.

Unless they caught a new case soon, chances were good that dodging a disapproving look from Gates would be their most dangerous scenario. Without the heavy tone of a murder keeping them focused on the more serious parts of their job, boredom-induced high jinx were practically guaranteed to earn a death stare from their Captain.

Ryan tapped the bottom of a thick file folder on this desk. _'__Yessir, today is gonna be great.__'_

\o/

* * *

"Hey Lanie, you lookin' for Beckett?" chirped the ever-helpful Kevin.

"Umm, yeah." The medical examiner's eyes darted around the bullpen with more interest than she usually showed for anyone with a pulse.

Ryan's eyes chased her gaze, before turning over his shoulder to look for his partner.

Treading lightly, he said quietly, "Or maybe there's a bigger run on A-Rod's than I originally thought."

"What's that?"

Ryan deflected innocently, "Oh nothing. I just said Beckett's a-right in there with Gate's, or so I originally thought."

Lanie wasn't buying any of that, but it didn't matter, Esposito was walking toward her. She was sure he'd be ready with a melting look or fresh comment for her visit to his place of business, even though she had come to find Kate. After yesterday's display in the seminar, Parrish imagined Espo would trump up her rather unusual appearance on his floor to stalking.

"Hey, Lanie," Javier uttered flatly while proceeding straight past her to sit at his desk and switch on his computer monitor.

Lanie deflated half-way through her answer of, "Hey, Javier."

Ryan pulled in his chair and looked straight ahead. He had no interest in catching Lanie-wrath for having witnessed that little moment of unmet expectation.

Luckily for all, Beckett emerged from the Captain's office. "Lanie, what are you doing up here?"

"Girl, you aren't answering my texts. Are you going to visit Castle this weekend or not? I've got relatives that need dodging. If you aren't going to be my excuse, I need to call in reinforcements."

"Sorry, Gates had some questions about my leave, but she approved it. As long as I promised to send Castle a few little words of 'encouragement' from her." Beckett held up a small piece of paper.

Esposito turned around toward Beckett, "Here, I'll take care of that. Hand it over."

Kevin snatched it out of Kate's outstretched hand before Espo could reach it.

He read aloud, "Mr. Castle, enjoying your camp? Stay as long as you like. Capt Gates."

Javi snatched the small square of paper out of Kev's hand, agreeing, "Yeah that should cheer him right up." He asked, "You got one, Beckett?"

"Haven't written it yet."

"Written what?" Parrish probed.

Ryan supplied, "Messages for Castle. He's cut off from 21st century communication. But Espo can send his little courier pigeons to him with some uplifting words that will spur him onto cardiac salubrity."

Espo rolled his eyes at Ryan's bardic moment.

But Lanie's face lit up with interest. "Oh, I want in. When do you need it by?"

Esposito barely contained his impatience. Staring at his screen as he typed Gates' message he answered, "I want to send this as soon as possible, so don't take too long."

"I've got mine already." Ryan handed his partner the index card inside his jacket pocket.

"I'll get to work on it, after I get some coffee." Beckett offered, "You want some, Lane?"

Parrish was still trying to figure out Espo's total change in humor, "Sure, right behind you."

\o/

* * *

Beckett still hated how comparatively lackluster her attempts to make her own coffee turned out.

"Not my best effort." She handed the second mug to her best friend.

"I've already had mine today," Lanie said passing on the extra cup. "I just wanna get the scoop on this retreat that Castle is on for his health. Are we talking palm trees, sandy beaches, skimpy bathing suits? Is it all luxurious Club Med?"

"Uh, no, more like Club Dread, or Club Jarhead." Kate took another sip and considered whether that phrase would be useful in her message to Rick.

"Oh brother, how did Castle ever get mixed up in something like that?"

"It was Espo's idea. The woman who runs it is an old friend of his. I think she was his trainer for the Special Forces Qual. Sounds like she's quite a piece of work." Kate's mouth turned sour after the third sip of her tragic excuse for a caffeinated beverage. She weighed how badly she needed a java jolt before subjecting herself to more. _'__Jeez, I__'__m spoiled when it comes to joe.' _

Lanie showed a tiny bit of her cards to Kate. "In the hideous and hulking way?"

"Uh, no." Kate guiltily offered, "more in the perfect specimen of athletic ability way."

The ME slid her pursed lips to one side of her mouth to bite her cheek in disappointment.

Until observing that reaction, Kate didn't know that Parrish was allowing herself to entertain a little more than lust for her ex-lover. She felt it her duty to fill her in. Beckett reached a sympathetic hand to squeeze her best friend's forearm, adding, "Lane, he's flying down there with me this weekend."

Parrish's defensive wall immediately flew up. "Well, then I better get to work on that note for Castle. He's gonna need more than a little help, if a whole committee is going to check out the results." As she hurried out the break room door, she held up her hand to wave off Kate's attempt to engage further.

\o/

* * *

"Dear Ms. Evans…." Delete, Delete, Delete.

"Hey girl…." Backspace. Backspace.

"Been awhile…" _Ugh!_

Javi was getting very frustrated. He'd spent the better part of an hour typing and erasing his email response to Kai-Rhee. On the one hand, he was so thankful for the chance to edit himself before he let slip something regrettable. On the other, he just wished he could see her first, feel her vibe and blurt out whatever felt right, even if it earned him a well-deserved backhand.

Their previous relationship hadn't been all that verbal to begin with. Neither of them were much into sharing their feelings. Not that they were holding back, they just both preferred the knife edge of action to cut through their confusion when they needed answers to relational questions.

While in a group, they could always easily lob jokes back and forth like the most comfortable friends. She never put the troublesome other-ness of a woman into the room for Espo. Even lewd locker room gags were fair game. It was one of his favorite parts about her. But one-on-one, it wasn't their way to exchange too much. They both preferred the effortless comforting silence they could fall into. Not many people in a lifetime could provide that for each other.

Certainly, their initial meeting during a recon drill under the hot glare of a summer sun wasn't driven by words. They barely uttered a syllable to each other during the three hours they spent hiking through wooded trails and scaling rocky outcroppings. Espo's view as he followed behind her was freaking distracting, but he did his best to keep his attentions under raps.

That changed when she motioned an order for the rest of the group to proceed to the target, while she alone accompanied Esposito to his bird's eye post to provide cover. He managed to set-up his rifle and view-finder with his usual practiced ease, but when she laid on her belly next to him to look through her binoculars, he lost most of his focus.

She wasn't _trying_ to distract him. Kai-Rhee would sooner eat her army-issue jeep piece by piece than veer a rat hair to the left of mission directive. But that's when Javier first noticed that she smelled like goldenrod and Herbsaint under the grunge of her uniform and gear. Luckily, his prone position on the ground hid his body's immediate reaction to her scent. She might have broken his knee caps just for conflagrating her clear chain of objectives.

Espo certainly wasn't the first soldier to notice the Master Sergeant's allure. But he _**was**_ the first enlisted man to catch Kai-Rhee's reciprocal attraction. Of course, Evans never said a word during that mission, nor flinched in the slightest when she had to bark Javi's name for assignment during the rest of the week. The benefit of being Earnest Percival Walker's daughter was an ingrained discipline of manner. 'Slouch' didn't even register as an option in her movement vocabulary. Esposito had no hint that she felt the magnetism that was pulling his compass toward her.

It wasn't until after he moved onto the next leg of the course, under the supervision of another commanding officer, that Kai-Rhee showed up at his door. Even then, that entire first encounter was conducted without the burden of words.

During that long golden afternoon, Javier and Kai-Rhee discovered they had so much in common in terms of experience and personal tastes that no pact needed to be spoken. Their complicit protection of shared values allowed both of them to hang up their erect posturing in trade for something fluid and molten. Instead of barking orders at attention to stiff straight lines, they moved together like mute jaguars whose muscles swayed lazily between the anchors of feline hipbones. After three and half hours of prowling though the forest of hidden desires shoulder to shoulder, she left his quarters as silently as she had entered.

Staring blankly at his monitor, Esposito realized that his jaw was hanging a little slack as his mind flew threw some of the more affecting images still vivid in his mind from that first encounter. He wondered if New York was experiencing a warm day, or if his muscles were simmering in the memory of Evan's navel beaded in sweat.

He tried to shake his head into focus. Espo knew he had to keep his message short. He didn't want to address the plane ticket at all, since she hadn't. And anything he said about their relationship would only ruin the palpable line of anticipation that was pulling him toward her island.

He certainly wasn't prepared to discuss the 'elephant in the room' inside an email. That would need to wait until he saw her in person. How would he broach the issue of her injury and how terrible he felt that he hadn't addressed it before now? He knew he should have called her when he found out. Even though they had long since fallen out of regular contact, he still felt there was no excuse for his silence. He started beating himself up over it anew every time thoughts of her crossed his mind. How could he explain that his overwhelming feelings of helplessness halted him every time he thought about picking up the phone?

Esposito was very grateful for the chance to right his wrong face to face, even though he was terrified by the thought of how many ways he could screw it up without the benefit of even a coward's escape off her island.

Espo stared at the clock on the wall, incredulous. This week was already torturing him with sluggish hours made of lethargic seconds. Without a case to focus on, Javier's thoughts were flapping to Kai-Rhee like a moth to flame.

For both Rick longing for Kate and Javi lurching toward Kai-Rhee, Friday couldn't come fast enough.

\o/

* * *

Can't thank y'all enough for the reviews and PM's.

_**Next up: Things that go VAROOOM! As Beckett and Espo make their way south...**_


	4. Chapter 4

On an island off the Florida keys, the wall clock read:

**Day 03 Hour 0600 Zone R Month APR Year 14. **

Under it a writer equivocated.

The din of Thursday morning mess hall rang between Castle's ears like a tinny NYFD alarm. Rick sat there waiting for some sort of green light to release him from his stall at the intersection of Lactic Acid Boulevard & Pain Street. None came.

'_No one would blame me for laying my head down and falling asleep right here. In fact, this vinyl table cloth looks kinda cushy.__'_ Rick's consciousness retreated into the relative safety of sleep before his head hit the table.

Campers consumed their breakfasts undisturbed for the next twenty minutes while writer-boy slumbered on the picnic table.

Cannon's shotput arm woke Castle with a hard _thwack_ to his thoracic spine. "Wakey Wakey Ricky Babee. Time to chug your Superman sauce." When the groggy civilian let out a dismissive groan, Cannon whispered, "Kai-Rhee's here."

Rick's spine snapped erect.

The beet red shake stood in front of Rick like a tower of too sweet medicine. His eyes scanned the kitchen to plead with Hoax for something salty, something bland, something solid, anything but the 30 ounces of saccharine overdose awaiting him.

Noticing Castle's pitiful expression as he tried to psych himself up for today's version of liquid breakfast, Evans sat down on the bench opposite the writer.

"Trouble, _Rick_?" she ripped, disdain for his given name unrelenting.

"No, Sensei." Castle didn't need to think about protocol anymore. After three days immersion, camp culture was second nature to him.

The Master Sergeant's penetrating look as she took him in didn't have any extra intensity of will behind it. By design, her eyes could melt an uninitiated grunt's face off without trying. Thankfully, Castle was now practiced at keeping his focus on the task and holding his discomfort at bay while she scrutinized him.

It still wasn't easy, but he thought of Simon's advice, passed on by Cannon. "Don't look a leopard in the eye, unless you want to feed her dinner." Castle wasn't sure if this sage proverb was Nigerian folk wisdom, or a literal description of what happened to the last millionaire playboy who came to Camp Krypton, but he felt it prudent not to ask until _after_ he survived the week.

Kai-Rhee snapped her celery between her teeth and watched attentively as her charge struggled internally. After a few curious moments without progress, finally she threw Rick a life line.

"Here." She slapped a small square of teal paper onto the front of his glass. The beads of condensation kept it squarely in place.

"From Kate," was all she said to Castle before she got up and yelled to the whole room, "Five minutes, slugs!"

The wetness seeping through the paper immediately began bleeding ink outward from the original pen strokes. The letters growing in four directions woke Rick from his trance. He read aloud.

"Ready to race, Rick?

-Always,

KB"

'_I didn__'__t dream her. She__'__s real.__' _Castle was surprised to hear his thoughts voicing some of his questionable sanity. The brainwash of so much physical exertion without the grounding influences of his New York life was beginning to eat away at Rick's grasp on reality. He needed the anchors of his writing, family, Kate, the loft, the 12th, even coffee to help him remember who he was. This note couldn't have come at a better moment.

Images of his Ferrari sped through his mind. Castle lifted the large glass and began quickly gulping down the concoction. His imagination turned the bright red liquid into rocket fuel. Techno-color pictures of his fiance's creamy legs, spilled over the hood of his race red speed machine, spun through his mind. Gulp after gulp, her skin was a milky river winding toward him, down a fiery canyon, swelling in crests of undulant desire. He kept swallowing it down.

Despite the pain in his hinges, speed was the mantra that rang in his ears. Richard desperately wanted to speed through Thursday and arrive as soon as possible at the threshold of Friday night. Finishing the last few mouthfuls, running was the only thing he could think of doing. Only two more days to finish up his business here and show Kate all the changes his dedication had affected in his body.

'_She__'__s gonna love my crankshaft upgrade.__' _

Castle shook his head."Wow. Either my fellow campers are rubbing off on me, or the celibacy has taken it's toll."_  
_

\o/

* * *

Despite his internal monologue's downshift into low-brow, Rick dashed out to the beach with a uplifted spirit. Kate's note had slapped him out of viewing Thursday as a prison that trapped him in Krypton's clutches. This week was an opportunity, to discover something new, to flesh out surprising characters, to find a plot twist, and stretch into new territory. _'Why couldn't I see that a few moments ago?'_ He slapped his hands together in anticipation for unknown worlds ready to reveal themselves.

Castle's running buddies were chuckling over his public nap time, when they noticed the writer brightly jaunting out of the mess hall.

"You're spry this morning, Castle."

"Don't I know it, Bob. Thanks for noticing."

Delphi smirked. "You didn't break one of Kai-Rhee's rules to get that happy did you?"

"I can assure you that the vigorous man you see before you is fueled entirely by red beet rocket fuel and a vivid imagination for sports cars."

"Well, I drank that same shake yesterday and had no such pep in my step, so I'm betting it's the imagination. Tell us about her, Rick. What kind of machine are we talking?

"Ferrari, but that's not the best part. It's the woman behind the wheel that drives me."

Delphi chimed in, "Ah, is this the infamous _KB_ we are speaking of?"

"The very same. And you'll get to meet her in less than 30 hours, if my luck holds."

Bob and Delphi shook their heads at Castle's uncharacteristic comportment of a heart bursting with springtime.

Rick turned to his running buddies without slowing down their pace. "Will you two have visitors this weekend?"

Bob chuckled. "Are you kidding me? It was a condition of our release that they be invited to the weekend festivities. Island party off the grid, Saturday buffet, and all day Sunday Spa? You couldn't keep our ladies away with a stick."

Delphi added, "Even if that stick had a flaming fuse and were made of dynamite."

After dodging a few roots protruding from the path as it turned from sand to vegetation, Adnan continued his characterization. "Our women will be the ones donning proverbial lampshades before midnight tomorrow."

The friendly pair smiled at each other. They obviously considered their wives' free-spiritedness a source of amusement and a bit of pride.

Bob asked, "What about you, Castle. What's your lady like?"

Dreamy eyed Rick stared into the clear blue sky extending before them. "A tall vanilla milkshake with wild cherries on top, melting on the hottest day of the year."

His audience exchanged glances, but the author continued.

"Like autumn leaves, swirling in determined eddies, uncovering the bit of truth most passersby miss."

Eye rolls followed, but the logophile's fire roared on.

"Like a rime ice pillar of quiet strength that I never want to untether from…"

Finally, Rick dissolved into contemplation, too excited by the chance to combine word smithery and Kate-fetishizing all into one activity. The pressures of austerity had reduced him to a purveyor of vainglorious prose. In his delirium of endorphins, however, he couldn't muster the social graces to care.

Creedon turned to Adnan, "I guess we opened ourselves up for that, but it's clear this weekend will be something to look forward to."

\o/

* * *

Castle continued his run with all the energy of a teenager. As the group rounded the hill crest single-file on the path that cut the island in half, he fell to the rear so he could take in the spectacular view without slowing down the rest of the line. The glimmering cerulean water spread in every direction with the illusion of a seemingly exaggerated curve of the earth as it met the horizon. Palm, mahogany, and almond trees sloped away from him until they met the banyans on flat land.

He marveled, '_How could this miraculous paradise be man-made?__'_

Still jogging slowly, Castle scanned the panorama for signs of artificial components aside from the behemoth buildings that staked the far end of the islet.

A bright square of light out of place caught Rick's wandering eye. No amount of squinting or readjusting his focus could make it plausible in it's position. So, naturally, he risked the wrath of Kai-Rhee's hellfire by jogging off the path for a better look. Apparently, the writer-turned-volunteer-detective was feeling like his old self again, because mystery re-registered itself as top priority in his mind.

\o/

* * *

"Now, get out of here, before you make me cry." Ryan was joking/not joking about his ambivalence for being left behind.

Beckett still had details to confirm. "Gates has been briefed on all the cases that are waiting for developments, so if anything happens to come in, you should be able to run leads without any problem." She looked over at Esposito who still had his jacket on and leather duffle bag in hand, since they weren't planning to stay long. She continued, "I'm not sure how reliable the communications will be once we get to the island," Esposito shrugged his uncertainty also, "but you can try calls, texts or emails just in case something gets through."

"No, I will _**not**_ be calling you during your one-day vacation on a tropical isle," Ryan protested. "I think I can handle things for one whole shift, and a weekend off, even without big brother looking out for me."

Espo answered the jibe. "That's good, cause big brother's got some grown-up business to attend to. Can't have you tagging along like a yappy little sibling that'll spoil the mood."

Kate dipped her chin and looked up at them with her embarrassed-to-be-witnessing smile. She knew her boys were trying to say, _'__I__'__m really gonna miss you, man, but I can__'__t say that, so let me insult you in whatever far-fetched way I can.__'_

"I'll send a few test messages when we get there, just in case." Beckett still couldn't help her mother-henning when it came to her cases.

"Just go! Enjoy yourselves. I'll be fine." Ryan held out his open palm to Espo.

Esposito clasped it and pulled Ryan in for a bro hug with a slap on the back, before adding, "Oh, I'mma enjoy myself, you don't need to worry 'bout that, bro."

Kev knew this was code for, _'__I__'__m really nervous about seeing her again, but no one can know that, man.__' _

Ryan assured his best friend that his secret was safe. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I'll hear all about it. Just don't break anything until she's done torturing Castle."

"Break what?" Lanie strode up to them, making her appearance in the bullpen extra unusual because it was for the second time this week.

Kevin and Javier fumbled over a number of "uh's" until Beckett gracefully cut them off. "Castle's concentration! Don't want to break his focus until the week is over."

"Well, here, this might help when it _**is**_ time to do just that." Parrish held out a gift bag to her best friend.

"For me?" Beckett sifted through it, naming contents. "Binoculars, sun tan lotion, snorkel mask, what's this?" Kate's finger hooked around a black string as she drew her hand upward to dangle the item in question.

Lanie teased, "Oh, just a 'little something' for Castle." The boys broke into stifled laughter as they took in the tiny triangles of the string bikini spinning suspended from their bosses' finger.

"I figured after all the hard work he is putting in, he deserves something a little more rewarding than those swim trunks I saw you packing last night."

"They're comfortable! Especially if we are going to be on the water. They're from my dad. That's what I always wear when we take the boat out."

Parrish rolled her eyes, "That's fine. You can wear them if you go _yatching_, but this might be a little more suited to the sands of paradise, especially from your fiance's perspective."

Beckett tried to stuff it back into the bag, but wayward strings kept slipping out again.

As an increasingly flustered Beckett struggled to get the floss out of sight, Ryan risked, "I'm sure Castle will appreciate your thoughtful gesture, Lanie. He'll be thrilled to know his whole team at the 12th is pulling for him." Lanie nodded in sly acknowledgment.

Katherine shut the bag tight against her chest, pink climbing into her cheeks.

Esposito offered to save Beckett from any more 'gifts' from her co-workers. "Ready, to go?"

"Yep," Kate gave Lanie a squeeze. "Thanks."

"Consider it a pre-wedding gift. Now try to have some fun, okay?"

As the elevator doors closed on Beckett and Esposito, Lanie turned to Ryan. "Whattaya think the chances are that she'll actually enjoy herself without digging up trouble?"

Ryan's forehead folded over at the thought. "Track record says slim to none."

"Let's just hope there are no unaccounted for stiffs bobbing around the Atlantic."

\o/

* * *

Esposito had become a bundle of nervous energy by the time their limo arrived at the base where they were to pick up their rental car. He had spent the plane ride reliving memories of his time with Kai-Rhee and thinking through drafts of apologies for his silence, none of which avoided him sounding like a heel.

Beckett, on the other hand, benefited from a mid-flight nap. When the plane landed, she felt quite refreshed and generous. When the plane touched down and her travel companion inquired about how she was feeling, Kate assured, "Ready for adventure." Then she quickly corrected herself, "the non-murder-related kind."

Both Kate and Javier agreed that car service for the 3 hour drive down to port would be too tedious, so they opted to take up Kai-Rhee's offer of a rental. However, the building their driver pulled up to was nothing like the rent-a-relics at most tourist traps. Beyond the barbed wire gate, they seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.

When Esposito stepped out of the limo onto the dusty gravel road, he was greeted by a concierge in a crisp navy suit jacket and white cotton button down. A free-wheeling British accent acknowledged him with, "Detective Esposito, I've been expecting you. So glad you've chosen to give our services a test drive."

Beckett stepped two long legs out of the depths of the car, causing their greeter to arch his eyebrows in appreciation. "And you must be Detective Beckett. A pleasure to finally meet you. Right this way, if you don't mind."

All three stepped out of the bright barren landscape into the relatively cool, dark expanse of an aircraft hangar. A man in full army fatigues was posted outside the front door and another stood inside behind a podium.

"My apologies for not being at liberty to introduce myself, feel free to call me Dream Maker, because that's my job here." The brit smiled like a slippery arms-trader before he turned to the guard. "Get the lights, would you, solider?"

The echoing 'ca-chunk' of stadium lights illuminated the length of the hangar 20 feet at a time, revealing row upon row of shiny vehicles.

"Daaaaaamn...!" Esposito was in no way prepared to play it cool while confronted with so many mint-condition fantasy rides under one roof. The first three automobiles alone represented more than he would make in a lifetime working at the NYPD.

Their conferrer smiled. "I thought you might appreciate the chance to choose, that's why I didn't have your car sent directly to the airport. It's my job to hand-pick the vehicle that perfectly suits the client in question. But in your case, Detective Esposito, it seemed like _**not choosing**_ was really the most apt solution to fulfilling my namesake."

Espo began to pace the rows to get a better look. _'__An Enzo? A __'__71 Javelin? A Hennessy Venom? Goddam, she__'__s sexy.__' _He walked around the Venom GT Spyder admiring its glossy gunmetal grey exterior. Noting his own reflection in the glass of the windshield, he addressed the car aloud,_ "_I'm a look _**gooood **_inside you, girl."

A green and cream colored beauty caught his eye in the next row._ '_"No way, a Ford F100? Aww, come to papa…" But before he could cross to the classic pick-up another hottie caught his eye. "Holy Shit, is that a Maybeck Excellero!?" Javi thought about sitting on 8 million dollars and whether rolling around in it would zoom right past thrilling to terrifying. It sure was beautiful, but he decided he'd rather worry about the driving, not the paint job.

The curator turned to Kate, motioning that they proceed to the second row. "This is my best guess for you, Detective Beckett, but you are of course welcome to override my choice, if you find something more suitable." He nominated a sleek silver 1953 Porche 550 Spyder with custom everything, as far as Kate could tell.

"Now don't let the vintage exterior fool you. Every inch of this particular engine has been rebuilt to compete with even the fastest formula one racers. We've even created a custom hard top for competition. She's a one-of-a-kind modern classic, the perfect blend of Marlene Dietrich and Serena Williams." Kate's eyes ran over the streamlined silver shell, and dipped into the tight fish bowl interior, before she agreed to take a seat and feel it out.

\o/

* * *

Thirteen minutes later, Javier was rounding the corner of the loop behind the hangar in a McLaren F1. The mind shattering sound of the loudest car he could imagine, paired with the closest thing to a race track he'd ever experienced, had his heart beating like a jack hammer.

Kate was getting a little anxious to get on the road. She sidled up to the sharply angular machine and waited for Esposito to cut the engine. When the car fell silent, but Javier didn't get out, Beckett lifted the driver side door upwards to see what was happening inside.

"Bro, I couldn't hear you because the sound of angels screaming was too loud. Wait, I'll start her up again, so you can get the full effect. Ready?"

Beckett watched Espo set his cell on the gear box, and flick three switches before he turned the ignition key. When Javi revved the engine, the naturally aspirated rumble was so jarringly loud that his phone vibrated off it's perch and down onto the bare floor boards.

Javier bent to retrieve it and shouted futilely into the mouthpiece, "Kev, you still with me?" before cutting the engine again.

Beckett shook her head. _'__We can__'__t ride in this! It__'__s only got one bucket seat positioned in the middle of the car!__'_

She heard Ryan on the speaker say, "Now, let's hear the Bugatti."

"I'm on it. One thousand thoroughbred horses coming up, partner." Espo struggled his way out of the centered seat and produced the second key from his pocket. The quiet outward swing of the Veyron's door revealed a drastically more civilized interior.

"You comin', Beckett?"

Kate smirked to see Javier in his role reversal as he geeked out to Kevin. It was usually Ryan's job to take the lead on overly excited detail exposition. But that dynamic flipped on its head when it came to hot women, hot cars and pro-ball. Those were Esposito's areas.

"Sure, I wouldn't want to miss out on my chance to drive 'The Concorde of the Road.'"

Espo stopped short. "I didn't say you could drive."

Beckett's face said 'got-cha' with a little too much amusement. It was so easy to rile Javier; it really wasn't fair. And this was fun. It'd been a long time since they'd been able to just hang out, without the severity of purpose their work pressed upon them. This kid-in-a-candy-store pit stop for Espo, made up for all the thankless lead follow-up and Castle pranks her friend had to put up with all season. She climbed into the passenger side door and put on her seat belt.

Javier held his phone as he turned the ignition. "Alright, he we go, bro."

The engine roared in throaty resonance, as if Esposito had pissed off a pride of territorial lions when his finger depressed the start button. Compared to the gizmo-free McLaren, they could feel the vibration through the seats and steering column more than hear it ricochet around them.

That time they could easily hear Kevin. "Oh, I'll take 'things that purr like kittens' for $2.6 million, Alex."

"That's what I'm talking 'bout. You ready to break the sound barrier?"

"From the safety of my desk? Yes. Good Luck, Beckett."

Kate played along. "Thanks Ryan."

Esposito's eyes focused on the mile of road ahead of him, thrill and predation riveted in dark concentric circles. With a rev of the gas pedal, his mouth salivated with the thirst to taste 200 miles per hour.

\o/

* * *

Two laps around the track, two sets of keys, and one Beckett-dominated drag race later, Javier and Kate still hadn't made it off the base with a vehicle.

Their host offered, "Of course, Detectives, if you can't decide on one, you can always take two cars. Even if you decide to drive only one back, I can recover these machines from any coordinates on the planet in a matter of hours," he said with eyes glinting devilishly. Their mystery man obviously enjoyed his job as temptation's errand boy.

"Done." Kate slipped into the driver's seat of the classic James Dean Spyder hand-chosen for her. "Care to make it interesting, Esposito? I'll give you the chance to earn back some of that pride. What do you say to a little wager? First one to Kai-Rhee's island, without breaking the speed limit on public roads, gets to drive the Bugatti back."

"Alright, you're on. But, I gotta warn ya. I plan to be there before sunset."

"No speeding."

"Don't need to. I just hope Castle isn't crushed when I show up first, without you."

\o/

* * *

**_Thanks to the readers old and new who've reviewed & PM'd me about this story. _**

**_Love to SelimPensFiction & my beta helpers & other quellers of posting angst - you all get to take a hotrod out for a spin, Kai-Rhee & Castle are picking up the tab ;-)_**

**_30 Bromance points to the reader that can tell me what Ryan & Espo would buy if they won the lotto. Another 30 if you know what numbers they play._**

**_Next up: Who makes it to the island first, Kate or Javi? How does the author greet his fiancé after a week of chastity? And does Rick manage to earn a grunt name before the week is out? _**


	5. Chapter 5

Esposito jumped onto Kai-Rhee's dock just a few hours after he and Beckett raced off the mysterious base. The sun had barely begun it's westerly decent. As he approached the beach, he came upon Castle with a crowd of men circled around him. They were hanging on every word of the writer's animated story.

Javi heard Rick say, "When I got up to the top, I knew I had to either jump or climb back down, so jump it was." The men clapped, cheered, and groaned at the end of his tale. They were taking turns patting Castle on the back when Simon noticed a stranger approaching, and flicked Hoax' arm to alert him of possible trouble.

Hoax' face lit up. "Hey, man, long time no see." He clasped Esposito's hand and leaned in to bump his shoulder against Javier's. "So…the ghost returns, been a minute, son. Lemme look at chu."

Javier spread his arms wide while Hoax sent an appraising eye over the detective.

"Alright, alright, city life ain't been as harsh as all that, I guess. At least the gun show still has a few rifles left in the armory." Hoax squeezed Espo's upper arm in jest.

Esposito countered, "And I see tropical living hasn't done much for your manners or your grooming. What is this?" Javi tugged on Hoax' facial hair.

"You like? The chicas in Miami go bananas for it, brother. I don't even need a name once they see the ink and the goatee, that's it. Terminado. I'm in."

"Is that how you are managing down here?"

As if on cue, Harmony rushed in barking to greet the newcomer. She placed both paws on Javier's shoulders and began to lick his face. Espo replied with indulgent scratches to the fur on her back. "And, who's this pretty girl?"

"Ha! Yeah, this is my main mamacita, Harmony. She knows what she likes." The big man ran his hands over either side of the dog's body. "Down girl. Good girl. You sure can pick em." Hoax rubbed behind the German Shepard's ears, "I think she can smell fingers without wedding rings. She tried to hump your writer friend, too."

Rick was a little overwhelmed with the sun, the exertion, and the locus of attention that his story had pulled to him. When he saw Espo's familiar face, the mantle of maniless he'd been hefting around all week slipped off his shoulders.

"Javier Esposito, are you a sight for sore eyes!" He walked up and hugged his friend without asking, trapping the detective's arms by his sides.

Espo accepted the public affection awkwardly in front of the other men. "Miss me, Castle?"

"I didn't know it until just this moment, but yes, yes I did." Rick pulled away and crossed his newly redefined arms in front of his chest.

"Looks like you been busy, man." Jaiver motioned to the writer's biceps, now bulging.

"Oh, Espo that's not the least of it. Is Kate with you?"

"Naw, I made it down first. But she'll be along shortly, I'm sure. We flew in together."

The detective motioned toward the crowd of men. "So, what's all the commotion here? You tellin' bedtime stories to the fellas instead of pulling your weight?"

"So glad you asked. As it just so happens, you are looking at the proud owner of a newly minted call sign from our peerless Master Sergeant." He beamed proudly as he motioned the length of his body.

When Javier's face didn't register all the enthusiasm that the author wanted, he clarified, "I passed!" Rick held out a fist that was ready for Esposito's pound.

Javi met his fist, "Alright, Castle, I knew you could do it. So what's your name?"

Rick's face drained of pride. He paused with his mouth agape.

Fitz yelled from behind the author, "C'mon, kitten, tell him!" Snickering passed between his cohorts.

Cannon egged on, "Yeah, Nermal, you've got nothing to be ashamed of." Loud guffaws ensued.

Rick turned slowly to meet Esposito's eyes and accept the fleecing he was no doubt in for.

"Nermal, huh? Like the spoiled little cat who charms their way out of responsibility for most everything?"

Castle nodded guiltily before Javier continued, "Hm, she read you like an _open book_, huh?" Espo wished Ryan was there to feed his birds. His partner would've been thrilled to get in on this roast.

Espo continued, "Well, it's nice to know you've at least been honest with the folks down here. That takes stones, _**Nermal. **_Congratulations." He slapped Rick on the shoulder, noting how unexpectedly firm it felt under his T-shirt.

Rick accepted the ribbing. Obviously, he had hoped for better results name-wise, but the important thing was winning one. Fitzy had shown him that. Rick could see his detective friend knew the truth of it, too.

It finally occurred to Castle. "Wait, Espo, do _**you**_ have a handle from Kai-Rhee?"

"Sure do."

Rick didn't get a chance to ask because just then the Master Sergeant came within range, and spotted her old friend. Her sniper-rifle voice sliced through the air from 50 yards away.

"I-ROC-Z!"

As she began walking toward them, Javier attempted to keep a straight face as he relished Castle's expression at her reveal.

Castle scoffed, "I-ROC?"

"Yep, that's me."

"As in the puny little Cammaro with 4 cylinders?" Rick was thinking, _'__Of all the cars, I mean really? Kind of a philistine__'__s auto. I think I prefer a cartoon character.__'_

Javier kept his eyes trained on Kai-Rhee's as she made her way across the beach. He answered Castle's skeptical look by explaining, "It's not about the engine, writer-boy, it's about her."

"How's that?" Rick looked very confused.

Javi leaned in to whisper, "It's the name of the car she lost her virginity in."

\o/

* * *

Castle didn't have a moment to process that bit of earth-tilting information before his master barked, "On the sand, grunts. I need 60 push-ups that look like you've been paying a lick of attention to something other than your own sorry backsides this week."

All six trainees dropped and started lifting their perfected planks in unison to the sound of Kreuger's counting. They were so close to the finish line. Not a single one of them had any interest in busting up their lucky streak by slacking off.

Kai-Rhee proceeded directly to Javier and drew him in for a hug before he got a close look at her. It was kind of a big deal that he was standing on her island.

Disfigurement had a way of taking all the easy comfort out of a relationship. It had the advantage of frightening her direct reports into compliance like a charm. But that's not what she wanted from Javier. She wanted to know if they still had the thing that had consumed both of them, the unnamable connection that made her more human than freakish. She worried, _'__Or did that blow up too?__' _

She squeezed a little longer than she might have otherwise done in front of her clients, but she was very nervous to let him see her scars in close range. Now was the moment she would read in his eyes whether or not that explosion had taken away his desire. She braced herself for the possible loss of yet another part of herself. She didn't regret her heroic act, and never would. Still, her iron resolve bristled when her mind was forced to push away the long list of losses she had already incurred.

Javier squeezed her tightly against him, allowing himself to draw in a long breath. His nostrils searched for the familiar scent of their first meeting. He found shea butter, anise and goldenrod underneath the coconut scent of her sunblock. Somehow, she smelled purer and more like 'home' than he remembered, not his mother's home, but his, some part of his origin.

From the beginning, Javier put a lot more stock in impressing Kai-Rhee than she did for him. He got nervous when he was anticipating seeing her. It was his reaction to all beautiful women, but it was magnified by her awesome ferocity. Everyone at his level feared and/or respected her; she was one of a kind. He got caught up in it, too. The difference for him was that sometime during their private time, she would cajole him out of his nervousness and make him forget all about the pedestal she lived on.

Consistently when they got in the same room, she would diffuse him before his stress level skyrocketed into the need for mega-machismo. A few wise cracks, maybe an elbow jab to the ribs and he was left wondering why he'd ever felt anxious at all. It was as if the Kai-Rhee he daydreamed about was a terrifying gryphon, but the one within arm's reach was just an extension of himself. It surprised him every time he had to shift from one perception of her to the other.

Espo wasn't gonna let go of her embrace. He waited for her to pull away. He steadied his heart to focus on the amends he needed to make.

Kai-Rhee put on her father's courage and leaned back against Esposito's arms, so her face hung a foot away from his saying, "So, some things have changed."

He answered quickly, "Not you." He poured all the genuine caring he could convey through his ardent eyes. Javi's gaze ran intently over the length of the two lines across her face, one horizontal and one diagonal. "But I'm sorry, you never got to hear it from me. I should have called."

Kai-Rhee's skin was burning under the heat of his searing attention, but not with lust. She felt like her old friend was soldering back together a cleft in her identity that she hadn't been able to deal with yet. Her sacrifice had taken her apart in pieces. And while she was very proud of how many she had already hot glued back into their proper place, there always seemed to be a few cleaved wounds that let a draft in.

Kreuger sounded off, "58, 59, 60. Task complete, Master Sergeant."

She turned and took a step toward the group. "Acceptable. Now, double time it back to the course. We've got one more round, gentlemen."

Hoax immediately echoed, "You heard her, plebes, now move." The big man gave Javi a wink before he shepherded everyone but Espo and Evans down the beach. The men moved fast, so close to their finish line, the fire of self-competition evidenced in their footfalls. Music and Harmony barked and yipped at their heels as the group paraded down the beach.

She turned to her friend, "So you wanna play a little before the civilians arrive? I've got my own Confidence Course down here. You up for it?"

"You know it. Why do you think I hitched a ride to get here before sunset? I couldn't give up the chance to relive that memory with you looking on."

Evans laughed at Espo trying to be smooth. She knew he was talking about her confession that she couldn't take her eyes off him the first time she presided over a similar drill. It was plain that this particular compliment was his favorite ego-boost back when they were still together. He'd asked her to retell the story to him more than once. And apparently, even years later, it was still a source of his bravado.

However, Kai-Rhee was thinking of the end of the story, not the beginning. "Why? You planning on tripping over the last hurdle and face planting in the mud, again?"

Esposito's face tried to feign some indignation, "I don't know what you're talking about. I was pushed."

"Oh, is that what you've been telling yourself all these years?"

"Yeah."

"And you're gonna keep frontin' it, even to the commanding officer who deprived an entire platoon of her attention, just because she couldn't tear her eyes off **you**."

Javier's smile returned. It still felt just as good to hear her say it, maybe even better since it'd been so long. He had forgotten what it was like to get that special kind of stroke from someone he respected so much. Someone who could just as easily reduce him to rubble, like every other recruit who passed her way. He didn't do anything to deserve it, but now he knew how hungry his ears were for her approval.

Her words charged him up with energy. He bounced a little off his heels, grateful for the gift.

"Well, in that case, Master Sergeant, do I get another shot to get it right?"

\o/

* * *

Esposito was having a blast already, standing in 'Parade, REST,' giving his full attention with his hands behind his back, listening to Kai-Rhee bark out her put-the-fear-of-God-in-them pep talk at the foot of the course. Somehow the words 'maximum effort' evoked nostalgia from basic _**and**_ a hint of imagined innuendo all at the same time. When she allowed, "AT EASE. REST." He shifted his weight back and forth between his feet, damn near exploding with anticipation to attack the man-sized jungle gym.

As Hoax counted off the staggered start times of the five men ahead of them in line, Espo checked out Castle's transformation. "You ready for this?"

Rick admitted, "It's certainly not my favorite part of the island, but Captain Confidence and I have come to our own understanding over the last week. So, yes, one more time." Castle broke his focus for a moment to take in Javier, "And since you are crazy enough to do this without coercion, it might just be a little fun to show you how I've been faring here."

Hoax shouted, "Nermal, go!" Richard took off toward the first rope ladder.

30 seconds later, the big man shouted, "Roc, go!" And Espo followed.

Javier noticed that Rick was gliding over the single rope bridge at 30 feet in the air with surprising ease. As he slid the stabilizing rope through his fists to catch up, Espo called out to the writer, "You're pretty nimble up here. Is this how you earned your name? Walking like a cat on a wire?"

"I do look good up here, don't I? Don't sound so surprised." Castle strained his voice to balance the exertion, concentration, and conversation. "I guess you could say my feline prowess played a role. It was up there on that tower, though." Rick flicked his head in the direction of the 50 foot turret they were climbing towards.

The writer couldn't resist spoiling a little of his own tale as they approached the spire's summit. "You see last time we were up here, that angled rope detached from its base, just as I began my descent. My weight sent it swinging wildly, so catching the net was a questionable proposition." Castle pointed to the scaffold he'd just mounted. "I could've climbed back up. Delphi was right here."

Javi straddled the rail that brought him side by side with Rick.

"He could've helped me back onto the platform. He was yelling for me to take his hand. But we were doing timed trials, if I did that, my best attempt would've been ruined. I wasn't prepared to let that go, so…" Castle mimed a release of a tightly clutched lifeline. "…I just let go of the rope."

Espo peered over the tower's edge and took in the small square of net below. His one eyebrow raised at the high probability of a miscalculated fall. "And you landed in the net?"

"Not exaaaaactly, but I managed to catch it with my elbows and hook on strong enough to dangle like a gibbon before I dashed off to complete the course." Castle radiated self-satisfaction, as he curled his arms upward to reveal the underside rope rash cutting across his triceps. "I even beat Kreuger's best time."

"Why am I not surprised that ignoring your teammates sane advice was instrumental here?"

Castle gloated, "Kai-Rhee said it showed _**total commitment.**_"

"Well, I guess that means you are ready to fill out your marriage license with Mr. Nermal Edgar, huh? Beckett will be thrilled, man."

Castle's eyes focused off into the tree tops below them, as he thought about it. "Yeah, it doesn't have quite the _ring_ I'd hoped for. But I'm thinking I can flesh it out a little with Nermal the Ninja, or Nermal the Nasty. It's still got potential for at least a decent mobster name."

Espo's face lit up. "Alright, kingpin, you ready to give it another shot?"

In that moment, Castle noticed just how alive Javier looked in the rush of physical challenge. Of course, he'd caught glimpses of the concentration the detective always used to kick in a door or lead the charge into a suspect's stronghold. But usually Rick was at the back of that entourage, and the expression he wore in that moment seemed different.

It wasn't just focus and adrenaline. It was thrill. Esposito was actually having fun. Not shallow fun like blowing up a battlement playing Halo, or teasing Ryan for his evening nightcap, but exhilaration. As if the challenge fed him some sort of positive biofeedback. He wasn't dragging his self-discipline up to meet the obstacles like most of the other men, Esposito was trying not to fly off the seat of control as the energy coursed through him.

Espo as the Roc felt the change too. It had certainly crossed his mind more than once that running Confidence against Castle would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make the author eat humble pie with a crushing defeat. But now that he was actually throwing himself over the hurdles, he realized how much work it would be to tamp down his good mood into a competitive scowl.

Truth was, in the moment, he found he'd rather show off how much he loved the thing that the writer obviously hated. In Espo's mind, performing for Kai-Rhee, enjoying the clean sweet air in his lungs and the calming sensation of blocking out all distractions to connect his body to each linear target one at a time, seemed so much more rewarding.

* * *

Rick and Espo leap-frogged through the rest of the course, trash talking each other through each new test until the last leg. That's when Javier's inner miscreant got the better of him. He de-panted Castle as they rounded the last corner. The writer had to stop for a second to rectify his shorts, but that was all the Roc needed to clear the last hurdle in style.

"Better Luck, next time, Nermal." Esposito turned to give his loser-friend a wink, before he walked off the course panting through his wide smile.

Only Simon was there to witness the author's bare-assed humiliation, but he looked up into the suddenly-interesting tree tops as Rick's eyes pleaded for some sort of referee to flag his prankster. Kai-Rhee, who didn't see the mooning from around the corner, lifted one eyebrow toward the writer for his falling behind.

"Iniquitous Interference!" Rick half-heartedly defended, knowing it was a lost cause.

"That's not a thing, writer-man." Espo added, as he rested his hands on his sides through panting inhales. The widest shit-eating grin of victory crossed his face before he turned and followed Simon and the Master Sergeant down toward the water. His fun brought to mind his partner, _'__I so wish you could see this moment, bro.__'_

Rick bent to rest his hands on his knees and catch his breath again._ '__Oh, Kate, the things I__'__m putting myself through. I sure hope you can appreciate how far I__'__ll go to make you happy.__"_

\o/

* * *

As Richard stood on the beach waiting for Katherine Beckett's boat to dock, he busied his impatience with a comparison of the sunset sky to an orange-creamsicle melting off its stick. He had to do something to keep himself firmly planted in the tight configuration of freshly showered men, so he wouldn't bound into the water and swim out to her. He knew that stupid idea was the abstinence talking.

Adnan and Creedon greeted their wives first. Both women sang, "It's party time!" as they danced down the floating dock into the arms of their husbands.

Castle averted his eyes as both pairs kissed their hello's with more enthusiasm than he felt it appropriate to observe. Rick craned his neck as the boat surrendered Hoax' female friends from Miami, Fitz' business partners and people carrying crates and equipment off the boat.

Delphi turned to Rick. "Where's yours?"

Castle started, "Well, technically, she's not mine yet. But… there!" His eyes locked on Kate's silhouette.

Her white halter dress caught the wind and flapped around her ankles as she stood on the rim of the boat. She tucked her hair behind one ear and kept her eyes on the gangplank as she carefully disembarked. When she stepped one steady foot onto the dock, Kate saw Rick waiting for her on the beach. A delighted smile overtook her features, igniting sparklers around the edges of her doe-like eyes. The fiery glow of the sky outlining her long figure as she walked toward Castle almost made her fiance's heart burst.

Adnan said, "Wow, Nermal, real life Nikki may be better than fiction."

Rick didn't rip his eyes off her. "Thank you, friend. I'll take that as a compliment."

Katherine was too modest to give Rick a very long kiss in front of the others, but she indulged in a tight squeezing hug.

Even though his urge might embarrass her, Castle couldn't contain himself. He let his embrace pick Kate up off her feet, and swing her around in a circle, before letting her feet touch the sand again.

Katherine Beckett, being the very best kind of person, never noticed people by their outward appearance first. Other than to note useful details, her focus sought immediately the soul of the person trapped inside their human experience, the trial they found themselves in, and the way they attempted to face it. She could feel the vigor and force of her lover's arms whip her easily around in a circle, but she received the sensory info as a tell tale sign of his excitement to be joined again, rather than attributing it to his enlarged muscle groups.

"I'm so happy to see you."

"So, you missed me, Castle?"

Adnan cut in, "Uhn Uh, we killed Castle. This is Nermal the Nascent. He's a better man than the flotsam that washed up here Monday."

"Nermal, huh?" Beckett's eyebrow's arched as she turned toward Rick for explanation.

"It's a long story."

Rick motioned toward his compatriots, as their wives wandered off to check out the digs. "Detective Beckett, please let me introduce two of the most decent chaps at Camp Krypton. This is Adelphian Raj Adnan and Robert Creedon."

"Oh, you wound me, comrade. Have we not earned better?" Adnan reintroduced himself to the detective. "Delphi and Bob are swimming with the fishes. You can call me Balboa and my partner here is Creed."

Bob took his turn shaking Kate's hand explaining, "Though I think our Master Sergeant had a difficult time deciding which of us was really the 'Stallion' and which the 'Master of Disaster,' since _**he**__**'**__**s**_ the one with the silver tongue, and I'm the one with the hard head."

Delphi rubbed Bob's gleaming bowling ball of a melon, "Oh, truth be told, I'm happy my best friend here ended up as the pretty one."

Javier walked up to the group. "Hey there, Beckett, nice to see you could finally join us."

"Yeah, how did you manage that magic trick, Esposito? Do I need to ask Ryan to listen to local chatter about possible 510's out of Miami-metro or reported speedboat highjackings?"

"Nawww, that won't be necessary. I didn't break a single penal code. I just needed to get down here before the pleasure cruise arrived." Rick nodded a knowing smile at his obstacle course buddy.

Beckett pressed, "I know the Bugatti was fast, but you're not gonna tell me it has an amphibious mode, too? Or did you sink 3 million of Castle's dollars in the Atlantic?"

Javi answered Rick's wary expression. "No, the dream doctor's got his baby on lock down again. I called him as soon as I reached the docks where my cousin Peddie picked me up."

"Peddie?" Rick questioned.

"Yeah, he's in the Coast Guard here. Keeps tabs on the Master Sergeant for me. That's how I knew about her operation, and how beneficial it would be for your condition. Apparently, they've been having a slow week, so he agreed to run me down here on his vessel, personally."

Rick wondered aloud, "Coast Guard off Miami, that's gotta be one helluva job."

"Yeah, its no easy gig. Drugs, refugees, tourists lost in hurricanes, some of his stories make our raids look like playtime at the park."

"Geez, Espo, and he has time to visit Kai-Rhee for you?"

"It's not an official part of his job, but our government has been conducting surveillance on the island since people started living here to conduct research several years ago. It was just a bonus that I got to hear about my old friend's successful business venture that way."

Adnan's wife returned to break her husband away from the conversation, "Alright, enough talking. Let's get this party started. There was enough booze on that boat to obliterate a crew of sailors. And that DJ didn't come all this way to amuse herself."

The newly crowned heavy-weights Balboa and Creed grinned devilishly. "See what I mean? No time to waste when there's a party that needs starting."

Espo began to follow after them. "You two coming?"

Castle answered, "We'll catch up. I wanna show Kate something first."

"Alright, but I gotta warn you. Hoax plus alcohol means we are in for a show. You might not want to miss it."

"Noted, save us a seat."

When the group left earshot, Rick turned to his fiance, "C'mon, Kate, I wanna show you around this place. It really is incredible."

* * *

_**So, can you tell how much I've learned from Beckett about the benefits of a long slow build toward gratification? lol. Those of you who've enjoyed the lack of foreplay of my first fic, might be cursing me by now that I've taken on the self-control of a Caskett romance here. Credit/blame to Marlowe for that ;-)**_

_**Gratitude for SelimPensFiction, Mindy & JJ beta help. And CD & GM & new reader friends for encouraging reviews. **_

_**Next up: What's the first thing on the island Rick wants to show Kate? What's Ryan up to while his team is away? And who can resist Shark Week? **_


	6. Chapter 6

Friday night transformed Camp Krypton into a new world filled with stress-releasing denizens, and Emperor Hoax was their ruler. In the early days, he'd convinced Kai-Rhee that letting him handle the weekend festivities would be good for business (and keep him sane during the long stretches of isolation). Planning music, entertainment, and feasts fit for royalty was exactly the kind of distraction the big man needed to stay loyal to his post. Dreaming up ways to out-do himself held even more sway than the pretty penny he was banking in service to the rich pricks in their clientele.

Not everyone stayed for the after hours revelry though. Kreuger was the first to escape back to his den, ear buds already in place. Fitz and Co. fueled up on the 5-star catering in the programmer's cabin, which looked more like a cockpit into the future with the amount of high tech gear they unpacked for the weekend work binge. Simon, as usual, hung quietly in the corner awaiting the alcohol to work its magic. Before long, the spirits would spur him to break out his musical instruments and serenade the soiree with freedom songs in another tongue.

Cannon joined Balboa and Creed with their enthusiastic wives in the melee of the 'Little Miami' Hoax had recreated to kick off their down-time.

Meanwhile, Castle was giving Beckett a tour of the place he'd called home for a week.

"You've gotta see this." Rick stepped up the three planks that lead to the wall-less wooden hut where they'd spent their daily meditation time each day. "This is the dojo."

Kate slipped off her sandals before she took his hand and slid her feet onto the smooth wooden floor. "Wow, Castle, this is beautiful," she said, admiring the shrine centered at the far end of the studio.

"I know. The hours spent here kept me going when I felt sure that I had to escape back to the 'real world' in New York." His eyes wandered over the now familiar details of the ceiling and rear facade. "An island of quiet restoration in a week of aggro-insanity."

"Did you spar here?" Beckett found it hard to imagine the liability involved in untrained millionaires slugging it out.

"No, at least, that wasn't part of Kai-Rhee's program. She lead us in moving meditations called katas. And we could come sit if we wanted to, but no martial arts past that."

Kate's voice curled up in incredulity. "Did you really meditate, like this statue, Castle?" She waved her hand over the Maitreya, the buddha of the future, staring off with emptied eyes into prophesy. Kate found it hard to believe that level of mute stillness was a possibility for her fiancé, even under the mind control of the most omnipotent super villain.

"Well, I made it through twenty minutes savasana at the end of yoga practice."

Kate furrowed her eyebrows to call him out.

"Alright, well I might have been technically sleeping for most of that time. But in my defense, when Sensei cued us for 'corpse pose,' all I could think of was meeting you with a cup of warm coffee. And then, well, my thoughts just drifted off."

At Katherine's unamused look, Rick defended, "But it was a very restorative way to integrate my intentions, I thought."

Kate smirked and drew him in, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm very proud of you, Rick. This was a stretch, even for you. And you stuck it out."

Castle cocked his head slightly to question her meaning.

She explained, "The person who started following me around years ago would have smooth talked his way out of something so uncomfortable." She drew an apostrophe around his ear to re-tuck his hair smoothly into place. "You continue to surprise me."

Rick curled his smile and spilled mirth into her eyes. Didn't she know by now that following _**her**_ inner light had led him to his new way of being? One where his discomfort wasn't really a main consideration. He was following her lead to this new version of himself, and had been for years now.

He kissed her for noticing his achievement. "Detective Beckett, I have whole new worlds to show you. Come, follow me."

\o/

* * *

"Sharks or Seals?" Esposito offered Evans, standing in front of the TV in the lounge adjacent the mess hall. They had escaped the party just after dinner. At the end of a long week, Evans was ready to hang up her cape and give her mask of invincibility a night off.

There weren't that many DVD's to choose from. Kai-Rhee wasn't a fan of the distraction for her clients, but Hoax had convinced her that most movies containing a training montage would serve her purpose. Hence, a lot of the choices came from the 80's and 90's and featured men in forehead sweatbands. Nearly half featured Sly Stallone.

"Definitely Sharks. I can't handle the sappy tonight."

Javi smiled. Only Kai-Rhee would consider a deep sea alien invasion movie like _**The Abyss**_ the equivalent of an overly romantic chic-flic.

He loaded the other DVD and flopped onto the couch next to her. The action was slightly more self-conscious than before, but he picked her legs up and swung them over his lap in a show of, _'__Look, nothing has changed. You can still relax with me.__' _

Kai-Rhee didn't fight the gesture, but knew they weren't the same people. She'd been dismantled and reassembled in the time since they'd last seen each other, first by losing her step-dad, then by her injury.

And already tonight Esposito had shown he'd grown up a lot. Evans was still getting used to the fact that the first words out of his mouth were an apology for something he really didn't need to address. The younger Javi had too big a chip on his shoulder for anything like that. Back then, he was all fire and hailstones when it came to his pride.

She'd never been on the receiving end of it, but she'd had to watch it get him into trouble too many times to count. It wasn't her place to give him advice, not that he would've listened anyway. Evans knew Javier gave the wrong impression to folks, but that side of him only inspired compassion from her.

Kai-Rhee's first instincts would have been to react similarly when someone dared to disrespect her. She'd probably be in the same boat as Espo with a short-fuse if she hadn't been lucky enough to be adopted by Earnest Walker. By all accounts, her step-father was the world's best role model for restraint in situations that dealt with the military's old boys club, and the blind eye they could turn toward those that aligned with their predispositions. Under his mentorship, she descended from a protected high-ground into the fray, while Javier had to scrap and claw upwards for every inch of respect he got.

Esposito hadn't been so lucky when it came to father figures.

As she looked at him now, older, but obviously still fighting, she thought it was a real shame that her Roc only had the opportunity to meet the Commander once in passing. Now that she was familiar with the empty space her step-father's absence left in her life, she realized how much the man had given her. If Javi had had the benefit of Walker's wisdom, it might have changed a lot about the detective's life.

"You good?" Espo checked in. He didn't want to assume anything. He was still very unsure about how tonight would play out.

She answered slyly, "Don't worry. I'll let you know if you're out of bounds, Roc."

"Good, I couldn't tell if my dazzling performance this afternoon had you feeling a little intimidated."

"Ha. Must be the exhaustion allowing me to sit still, huh?" It was only a gentle jibe, but it seemed to relax him enough to fall into the comfortable silence she needed at the moment.

Watching Espo's face painted in the blue light of the TV, she started to reflect on how few people she could actually let go around. She had pillars in her life, but wouldn't allow herself to lean against them unless she couldn't find a way to avoid it.

Valedictoria knew a number of people that functioned like anchors to her world. Her family, her high school track coach, her first platoon commander, Lamar and every member of her squad in Bagdad, for instance, were immovable objects to her sense of self. In general, Kai-Rhee was quick to offer loyalty to other soldiers as a part of being on assignment together. Rarely did anyone get kicked off her list of 'people I'd take a bullet for.'

However, years after people moved on from her life, there were a few points of view that set-up permanent residence in her head. Voices that offered their opinions and helped her understand where she stood on things. Javi's was one of them.

She couldn't exactly explain why, not being the type to ruminate too long on the nature of things. However, she had needed to explain the exceptions she made for him, to herself, more than once.

When she first met Javier, Evans wasn't looking for someone to get involved with. In fact, the wall of overcompensating disinterest she put up, to assure menfolk that her gender wasn't an issue, was sky high at the time. And Espo hadn't done anything superhuman to drag her focus. He was good enough to qualify for Special Forces, but she'd easily resisted more objectively impressive specimens.

It was curious. One day, she was just fine without him, and then the next he was 'there,' like something she couldn't get around. A new part of herself existed somehow, seemingly out of thin air, when she met Esposito.

She'd never mixed relationships with active duty soldiers, especially ones in her command. She would've considered dating other personnel on base, an orderly, and a retired lieutenant half a world away, but never someone she worked with side by side. She questioned her sanity when she found her mind thinking about him during drills. At first, it seemed utterly out of the question. Kai-Rhee came down hard on herself when her thoughts drifted Javier's way.

In just a few days time though, it was clear that whatever connection they shared was not something under her control. It existed as it's own entity that held no regard for what she wanted. She was part of it, more than it was part of her. Quickly she realized that judging herself for acknowledging something so palpably evident was a waste of energy. In her mind, her father's words rang, _'__Know yourself, soldier.__' _That's how she kept in control of her desire until the time was right.

After Espo was released from her charge, it wasn't so much a decision to go see him as an inevitability. And everything about it was different from her experience of other men. There were no butterflies, no worrying about what the other was thinking or where things would go. None of that seemed relevant when they were together. Their shared time felt more like a verb than a noun-like 'relationship.'

Most importantly to Kai-Rhee, Javier stood out because he never gave her cause to be someone other than she was when she was hanging with the guys. Most men who were attracted to her for her beauty seemed to expect that she had some girly, high-heeled version of herself just waiting for the right man to draw it out. When that girl never showed up, their disappointment became a reason for Kai-Rhee to pick a fight. She didn't feel like she was missing anything from her life without lip-gloss or a clutch purse.

Esposito never gave Evans any indication that that was a problem for him. They'd joke and play with fellow soldiers in a group, zero friction, and one-on-one they'd just be together in whatever way felt right at the time. It was almost familial the way they didn't need to speak in order to decide things, except that the way their bodies moved in unison was anything but brotherly. He had always made her feel like exactly who she was was what he wanted. As if it were obvious that her choices and reactions were the logical and right ones to have.

All the tension between them came when they were apart.

Maybe that's why it had never really blossomed into a 'relationship' with all the expected trappings of dates, and drama and expectations that come with significant other status. They knew it was only a matter of time until one of them got deployed. They never let themselves talk about the future or readjust their identities to accommodate the other person. That would have FUBAR-ed everything.

They were both focused on the future people they wanted to carve out of themselves, not playing house.

When the day for saying goodbye did come, it was sad that they wouldn't get to see each other the next day, but nothing was 'over.' There was no call to 'end' anything. That would seem to imply that a romantic 'beginning' had taken place. And that just didn't feel true.

They knew that it wasn't the last time they would be together. And indeed when their paths crossed again 11 months later, they acted as though no time had passed and no explanations were needed. They carried on just as they had before, cracking jokes at the other's expense publicly and enjoying their time alone immensely.

Other men tried to get Esposito to spill the details or brag about the conquest. It was expected. But he shook them off easily. Certainly her beauty was exciting and watching her in command, knowing other men would love to be in his shoes, stroked his ego. But it wasn't difficult to refrain from sharing details with other men. The power dynamic only served to keep them safely behind closed doors, but they never brought it into the bedroom, except in jest. Espo felt like sharing that with other men would only reveal the massive vulnerability he was allowed to feel with her. None of that seemed something to brag about. He was just as protective of their private space as she was.

Maybe it was the lack of jittery super-highs and crashing lows that kept them from making something 'official' out of things. None of the traditional ways of talking about lovers seemed to fit them. She didn't want to be in a box, and she didn't want to put Javi inside one either. It seemed obvious that they would tear each other apart in order to escape the caged feeling anyway. She had no interest in taming him, or being tamed.

Now, all these years later, she was no more interested in fitting into a mold. However, she was very grateful to rest against his solid presence for a moment. She hadn't realized how weary she felt, how exhausting her fight back to wholeness had been, until Espo appeared with eyes that held witness to the pre-scarred Kai-Rhee.

\o/

* * *

Rick and Kate barreled through the screen door giggling, hands entwined like kids going steady. When Castle noticed Espo and Evans curled up on the couch, he stopped short unable to make the image fit into his concept of either of them. He shushed Kate believing he had stumbled upon something he shouldn't have.

Espo smirked at his old friend and then at his co-workers. Castle and Beckett wore expressions like teenagers caught sneaking back into the house to find mom and dad waiting up for them. Castle looked guilty, Beckett just caught unaware.

Kai-Rhee knew she had to answer to keep hold of her authority. "What's the matter, Nermal? You itching to watch Shark Week with us?"

The writer shook his head vigorously in the negative.

She swung her legs off of Esposito and crossed the room to the intruders. "Then why are you standing there catching flies?"

She turned toward Beckett and offered a handshake. "You must be Kate. Welcome to the island. You're a brave one to subject yourself to this kitten's caterwauling. How do you manage to get any work done with him tagging along?"

Beckett loved Castle's task master already, though a twinge of guilt threatened for sending her writer-boy to sleep away camp with a woman who cut him down faster than Captain Gates. "It's not easy. But you seem to have done a good job with improvements to his attitude this week."

"I should get a medal." The Master Sergeant sent a judging eye up and down the length of the writer. Rick involuntarily responded with the shivers she intended to evoke.

Castle couldn't get out from under her gaze fast enough, especially with Esposito enjoying their show from the couch. "I was just going to grab a couple of water bottles from the walk-in, before I gave her a tour of the island. So, we won't disturb you."

"Good. Make sure you show her the look out." Kai-Rhee turned her attention back to Kate, explaining, "Best view between the mainland and the Caribbean. Not to be missed."

Castle grabbed Beckett's hand, "Sure thing. Well, goodnight." He dragged Kate into the kitchen and out the back door.

\o/

* * *

"She make you a little nervous, Castle?" Beckett couldn't help but comment since Rick couldn't manage to relax back into the cozy coupledom they had been re-establishing earlier.

Rick continued walking up the beach distractedly at a pace too quick for enjoying 'island time.' "Can you blame me? She eats detonating devices for breakfast!"

"Esposito seems to have made peace with her," Kate observed.

"Crazy right? You saw how quickly she flipped from human to preternatural, didn't you?"

"Are you more concerned that there's another woman on the planet impervious to your charms or that Espo gets immunity from her's?"

"Both. Neither. That's a trick question."

Beckett offered to rescue him from his overanalyzing. "Why don't you just show me that view she was talking about, and maybe I can find a way to bring your focus back to us." She turned toward him, drew her hands up over his newly acquired pectoral muscles and down the sides of his body, before she laced them together at the small of his back.

Castle snapped out of it. '_Oh right! Kate. Here. Tropical island. Sultry spring wind__… __Reunion sex.__' _

"What was I thinking? Yes, of course. Right this way. It really is spectacular."

\o/

* * *

"Watch for roots sticking out of the ground here." Castle took Beckett's hand as he pointed out the one that had sent him tumbling as he thought of her.

The crash of the waves turned into a dull ambient whooshing sound as Castle lead his fiancé up the running trail over the crest of the hill at the center of the island.

Inside the writer, two competing moods wrestled like the ebb and flow of waves crashing against the urges to climb the beach and recede home again. Rick's excitement to share his newfound kinesthetic sensibilities battled with the tension release he felt since Kate was by his side. Her presence was unwrapping the macho mask he'd needed to survive island politico. Within moments of her arrival, he felt the aura of love she brought with her quickly dissolving the Castle made of sand he'd painstakingly erected.

\o/

* * *

"Knock, knock!" Beckett called through the same screen door she and Castle had stumbled through 40 minutes earlier, hoping she wasn't interrupting anything. She heard the TV narrator describing the terrors of man-eaters like the Great White, but no human sounds to indicate that Espo and Evans were engaged in anything other than watching the screen.

"C'mon in, Beckett. You alright?"

"Yeah, Espo, I'm fine. Sorry to interrupt. I was just wondering if you've gotten any messages from Ryan. It doesn't look like anything I've sent has gotten through."

He checked his phone. "Nothing. Doesn't look like there's reception either."

"You need to get a message out?" Kai-Rhee offered, concerned.

"No, I just told him I'd try when I got here, on the off chance that we got a development on a case. It's probably fine. I just haven't been able to check-in."

Kai-Rhee thought about it. "I might be able to change that." She stood up. "Follow me." Both detectives followed her out the door.

As they followed behind the Master Sergeant down the path, away from the loud music still playing by the shoreline, Espo asked Beckett, "So, where's Castle?"

"He's, uh, resting."

"He passed out on you, huh?"

"I'm sure he's had a very exhausting week."

"You traveled 1500 miles and he can't stay up a few hours past his bed time." Esposito pursed his lips and shook his head, "Lightweight."

Kai-Rhee knocked on a cabin door, "Fitzy! …Kai-Rhee."

Beckett saw a runty figure open the door pouring yellow light into the darkness.

"What can I do for you, Master?" Fitz used the most supplicant address for the benefit of his sheltered business associates. They already thought his extended stay sprung from a quick descent into certifiable masochism.

She motioned to Kate, "The detective here needs her com link functional. See what you can do?"

"If that means I get to hardwire the tower, I'd be happy to help."

"Fine. Just be discreet. And I want the kill switch in hand before Monday morning."

She turned toward Kate. "Detective, if it's possible, Fitz can get it done. If not, I can send an email for you."

"That won't be necessary. Thanks." Kate entered the cabin, her long goddess-like frame starkly contrasted by the tech geeks hunched over their devices and cans of emptied energy drinks.

When they closed the door, Espo ventured, "Sooo, do you have a cabin like this?"

Kai-Rhee couldn't suppress her smile at his forwardness, even though he was earnestly attempting to remain casual. She's the one who flew _**him**_ in, after all. _'__I guess that answers my questions about how much he__'__s changed.__'_

Kai-Rhee considered ribbing him for the line. It would be so easy, but she didn't want to bother to parse out the words. She was ready for the silence to thicken and envelop them both. She took Espo's hand, something she had rarely done in all the time she'd known him, and led him further up the path toward her cave-like new home jutting out of the rocky side of the hill.

\o/

* * *

For both Espo and Evans, nightfall was a friend. It could eat them up and silently digest everything that might otherwise need to be said. Clearly, their track records indicated that both would prefer to be devoured by darkness, than be forced to talk about things that go bump in the night. Off-duty, all warriors had to eventually face the fact that they were sometimes vulnerable. In that moment, Javier and Kai-Rhee were both feeling lucky to have each other stand guard while it happened.

* * *

_Whoops, too much happening on Friday night to squish it all into one chapter. So, we'll find out about Ryan's exploits at the top of Ch 7, before checking in with the other detectives and their writer. _

_**Props to SelimPensFiction, TeaCakeAndHappyThoughts, JaimeSpencer4 and FuelDH206 for golden suggestions. **_

_**Crushin' on Wendy, GM, CD, shellee3, JJ, Mindy, BigKahuna, concreteangel, southerngirl, and loveabby. You saved my airport purgatory with your fun reviews!**_

_Next up: How did Kevin and Jenny make Sarah Grace? What's on the menu for Javi's breakfast in bed? And what could possibly get Rick off the hook for passing out on Kate? _


	7. Chapter 7

"I love you, Detective Honey Milk" Jenny joked, as they prepared to end their call.

Unamused Kevin replied, "Ha ha. I love you, too. Have fun this weekend. And thanks for cheering me up. I needed that."

Even though he'd never admit it to his partner, Detective Ryan fell into a lonely funk Friday evening. _'It's one thing when Castle goes jet setting; that's normal. But when Espo does it, the universe feels...I don't know...out of order, for some reason.'_

Luckily, Kevin's wife could turn his mood around almost instantly. Jen assured, "Anything for the cutest detective in New York."

"Hey, I thought Espo wasn't your type," he teased back, fishing for one more playful exchange.

Searching for something silly he would appreciate, Jen quipped wistfully about their mutual friend. "True. His Grace is too costly for everyday…That's why I married an Irishmen, so I could speak all mirth and no matter."

Kev had a weakness for weird wordplay. 'Oo, Hibernian and Shakespearean all in one sarcasm. Well played, Mrs. Ryan."

She shook her head that he managed to make their conversation even dorkier, and yet more adorable. _'__How does he __**do**__ that?__' _Her tone ushered him off the phone, before they got anymore adorkable. "Give Sarah a kiss from mommy."

"Sure thing."

"And tell your sister I'll have a shot of Jameson in her honor tonight." Jen's alumni friends in the background resounded a loud approval of her promise. Away from the receiver, she shushed her companions, "Sh! I'll be right there!"

Jenny had certainly never intended her much-anticipated trip to coincide with her husband's whole team leaving. She had accepted the offers of heavy babysitting back-up so that Kevin would have a chance to catch up with his best friend, too. They were learning how babies had a way of making hang time a rare artifact.

She worried. "You gonna be alright?"

Ryan's tone was filled with appreciation. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Have a great time." After the year of serious, life-changing events and near death experiences that he had put her through, he wished he could give her more than a week off. "You deserve it, supermom."

\o/

* * *

"Uncle Ry-Ry, what are these frowny faces for?" Kevin Ryan's niece was examining the piece of mock paperwork that must've fallen out of the detective's pants pocket during the tickle fight they'd just had.

Without the benefit of Javi's hair-brained schemes to enliven the day's 'seventh inning stretch,' the young detective had been ready to fall asleep on his desk by 4pm Friday. Just to amuse himself, he decided to fill out a Daily Activity Log that included all the TMI of what he _**actually**_ did during a shift without a corpse or his team to keep him going. The exercise did provide a few laughs, but he wasn't dense enough to leave it in the recycle bin where Gates could stumble upon it.

"Um, well, these happy faces at the top of the page are for the all the good work I was able to finish up early in the day." Ryan answered a little uncomfortably since he didn't know if his sister had already taught the 5 year old to read, succumbing to the pressures of tiger mom competition. His colorful phrasing would be hard to explain to innocent ears.

She pursed her tiny lips in shrewd disapproval of his evasion. Punching pudgy fists into her hips, she raised one eyebrow, just like Uncle Javi had showed her.

Irrationally intimidated, Kevin pointed to the bottom of the page. "But these sad faces are bored and tired, because the rest of my team went off to play at the beach, and left me behind to clean up after them."

Ryan's niece dissolved into blonde ringlet innocence again, mollified by his immediate compliance. "Why didn't they take _**you**_ to the beach, Uncle Ry?"

"Welllll, this is a funny kind of beach. They are doing a lot of push-ups in between the fun stuff like swimming and building sand castles, and that's not really my thing."

The little girl screwed up her nose in confusion.

"Besides, I'd rather be here to visit you and see my Sarah Grace." He tapped his index finger on her cute little nose to accentuate, "since your mommy insisted on keeping her for four whole days." She giggled at the silliness in his voice.

"Here ya go, little brother. She's all yours." Ryan's sister handed over a golden baby with laughing eyes. "She's got a present for you in that diaper. From the smell of it, I think she'll need a new outfit and half a container of wipes. But feel free to just give her a bath, if it's a lost cause." The Ryan clan grew up thinking that sardonic schadenfreude was more of a family pastime, than a linguist choice.

"Gee, thanks sis."

"Anytime. Wouldn't want you going into _bonding withdraw_."

Kevin held his bundle of joy with outstretched arms, and tried not to breath in as he brought her to the changing table.

Ryan was always looking for ways to jump in for baby care. 'Getting his hands dirty' was a positive shift away from the hours of worry he created for himself with his nose buried in parent-prep websites.

Research could be Ryan's addiction if he wasn't careful.

From the time they met, Jenny had no competition from other women, save one, but it wasn't his ex, Siobhan, or celebrity crushes like Natalie Rhodes. Her name started with http.

One Christmas eve, Jen donned her new red and white neglige, in order to steal Kevin away from his laptop mistress. After a few curving silhouettes as 'santa's naughty helper,' the young detective couldn't remember why he had thought googling better eggnog recipes _**wasn**__**'**__**t**_ a waste of his time.

As Ryan took her hungrily into his arms, he melted under the gift of her top three Christmas compliments, now seared into his memory.

"How can you be so _gallant_, and _gorgeous_, and _Irish_ all at the same time, Mr. Ryan?" She drew a lazy finger over the delectable bridge of his nose. "I'm still having trouble believing you exist."

"Maybe I'm a figment of your imagination."

"Like Santa? Too good to be true?"

"Well maybe _**a little**_ more fit than jolly St. Nick," he joked with a tilt of his head. "But if you've been a good girl, I might have another present for you." His eyes sparkled. Even before proposing, two azurite irises pledged a lifetime of love and commitment whenever they looked at Jenny.

She predictably swooned. Even though he followed leads, and followed orders, and followed her around like a lost puppy when they'd first met, Jennifer Scout Duffy O'Malley always looked at Ryan like a leading man.

That's why Kevin knew that someday they would make a family, though it took the wise words of his partner, and a lot of 'practice' to make Sarah Grace.

Now that he was a dad, the world looked so different to Kevin Ryan. Once he got past his nervousness about the leap to parenthood, and the white-knuckle fear that he might drop his newborn the first week, he fell in love. Between his beautiful, uber-capable wife, and his angelic daughter, he could turn to any channel on the dial and sing along in sentimentality. To his partner's annoyance, Kev even started listening to the _country_ radio station in the squad car. _**All**_ the songs made sense.

Detective Ryan's daily routine was definitely different, and yet, even more of the same was true.

Despite the fact that Ryan considered loyalty to _**principles**_, and by extension people, as his top priority, while Espo reversed that to place loyalty to _**people**_, and by extension principles, as job one, they were both protectors of the highest order.

It was even more important to Kevin to make the world more just, and hopefully safe, for his little girl. Being with Sarah Grace and Jenny he could live one version of his ideals, but working with Espo, Beckett and Castle, he was expressing the very same thing.

Though, when pressed, Ryan couldn't decide if the unique smells that assault a homicide detective or a new dad were more offensive.

To his daughter on the changing table, Kevin cooed, "Good thing daddy's here to tuck you in tonight. I wouldn't want to miss an smidgen of this precious moment." As he carefully unsnapped her onesie, he crooned, "Who wants a tropical vacation when I could be here with you?"

A moment later, Ryan's sister let out a loud laugh as the sound of her brother's gasping 'Cahck, cahck' came down the hallway.

Kevin censored his cursing for the benefit of his niece, "O my sweet Je….ans and Sneakers,…How is it even possible?… Did she feed you rotten durian?" He brought the back of one wrist to his nose as shield, addressing his offspring with incredulously doting eyes. "How can you be so cute and so fowl at the same time?"

Ryan called out to the kitchen, "Thanks, sis, this is really special."

Having already earned her stripes in the 'joys of parenthood,' she throughly enjoyed the chance to haze Kevin. "Anytime, Wonder-dad. It's _**my**_ pleasure."

\o/

* * *

Friday night midrats did nothing to quell the party raging on Camp Krypton. Even for Cannon, a second serving of midnight rations was no match for the urges that a heavy base beat and the hip sway of the opposite sex inspired. DJ Magic Michaela was better than Gandalf at conjuring up will-bending invitations to venture out of one's comfort zone. With a flick of her wrist and a needle as wand, turntable cauldrons poisoned the whole crew. That's why she could charge Hoax half his entertainment budget.

Hence, hangovers of assorted varieties stalked the island like pumas ready to pounce on Saturday morning.

\o/

* * *

Beckett had already used her phone's new connectivity to answer Ryan's messages, check all of her email, and clean up her contact list, deleting the duplicate entires. She moved onto the goodie bag that Lanie sent, trying out the binoculars from the crow's nest where her fiancé was still passed out on the floor.

"Ughhhhh," Rick groaned as he shifted uncomfortably on the hard wooden platform.

"Good morning, Castle." Kate responded without bothering to interrupt her scan of the island through her viewfinder.

"Ugh, what the…? Where are we?"

"Exactly where you left me last night, when you passed out **mid-kiss**."

"Ohhh, Kate, I'm so sorry. I…"

She readjusted the lenses as she answered, "Oh, I understand, Castle. I traveled for more than half a day so we could 'just cuddle.'"

"My body must've shut down after all of yesterday's excitement." As Rick rubbed his hands though his hair, the severity of his trespass began to sink in. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

Kate wasn't letting him off the hook, but having the upper hand in their cat and mouse game always proved handy. "Good, we can start with breakfast. But first, what are those buildings over there?"

Castle answered groggily, "Well, I'm not sure exactly. Seems they are some kind of private research facility for weapons development, but we've had no access to that part of the island. It's fenced off with barbed wire and natural barricades as far as I can tell. Kai-Rhee doesn't exactly allow us 'free play time' during the week." Rick sat up and tried again to shake his head clear, "Why? What do you see?"

"Not sure. There are odd looking lights crossing in front of my view of the buildings."

"They aren't greenish or pinkish, by chance, are they?"

She finally turned to look at him. "Yeah, how did you know? You've seen them?"

"Not where you are looking, but I found something odd off the trail when we were running the other day. I couldn't figure out what I was looking at, some kind of square node in the ground. I saw pink and green lights flash inside it at random intervals. Bob and Delphi didn't have any clues for me, and it's not the kind of thing I would feel comfortable asking the Master Sergeant about, since technically I'd be eligible for beheading if I admitted that I veered off trail to investigate."

"Can you show me?"

"Sure. Mystery before breakfast works for me, **if** that effectively shifts the focus away from my terrible misdeeds last night." Rick sat up and started putting on his shoes.

"I didn't say that, but I'll give you the chance to make it up to me this afternoon."

He looked up while looping his laces to deliver the charming smirk her invitation deserved, "With pleasure, Detective. That sounds more than fair."

\o/

* * *

Bing. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Bing.

"I guess we have reception now." Kai-Rhee rolled over to prop herself on one arm and look down at her Roc. Morning light filtered through the window, painting her old friend's face and chest with a white glow that washed out his tan and highlighted the dark outline of his hairline. "Wanna see who it is?"

"Not really," Espo readjusted himself, opened his eyes, and reached to brush Kai-Rhee's hair away from her cheek, wondering if she had started letting it loose in a conscious effort to shade her face. He hoped not. He thought her postural symmetry, her confidence, was something the world should never be without.

Esposito sighed. "Buuut, I guess I should see who it is, just in case."

As Javier read his cell screen, Evans guessed, "Your mom? Making sure you packed your toothbrush?" Javi had always been much closer to his mother, than she was to hers.

"No, even more naggy. My partner." Esposito flipped his phone to show her Ryan's image filling the screen behind the text notifications he had sent.

"Ha. He's just a baby. **This** is who's covering your ass on the mean streets of NYC?"

"Yeah, barely. But he's a good guy, despite all the ninny-whipping I gotta put up with."

"Tell me about him."

Esposito scrutinized her expression to gauge his response. Obviously their physical connection was still there, and even more exciting to him now that dry spells had begun to punctuate his sex life. But how much should he bring her into his life now? In the light of day, he wondered, how much would _she_ let him into _hers_?

"Ryan's not like anyone we deployed with. Aside from Castle, he's probably the biggest dork I know. But he's a good partner, the best really. We been together awhile. Truth is, I trust him more than anyone."

That was more honesty than he'd planned to let tumble out, _'__I guess she still has that effect on me.__' _

"Wow. That's really great, Roc. I'm really happy you've got someone like that in your life." The echo of the words in her own head made her reflective.

Espo voiced it aloud, "What about you? Hoax takin' good care of you?"

"Aw, well, we all love the big man. He certainly keeps the sun shining when I get too cloudy. But Simon does most of my lookin' out. I need both of them to make this operation fly."

A wooden 'knock knock' sounded at the door. Kai-Rhee jumped up. "Speak of the devil."

Esposito began to get up.

"Don't worry. He won't come in. He brings me breakfast on Saturdays, so I don't need to face the clients unless I want to. Simon's very protective of my down-time."

"Sounds like you've got a good team here."

"Yeah, I'm pretty lucky."

The words hung uncomfortably in dead airspace, highlighting her misfortune in the field. But, she _**was**_ really very lucky. Fate had taken care of her in more ways than any mishap with a detonating switch could overshadow. The truth of it kept her going whenever she got moody in her isolation.

Kai-Rhee smiled as she opened the door to find _**two**_ trays full of breakfast. She gave a nod to Simon's invisible presence that she knew was hiding somewhere in the treetops looking on.

"Ready for carb-loading Saturday?"

"Oh, yes." Espo rubbed his hands together over the pancakes, fruit and syrup on his tray.

As they ate, he ventured, "So how do you occupy yourself when the 'recruits' are sleeping?" The detective remembered how much she relied on pet projects to keep her mind on track during the off hours. It was something he, himself, was struggling with now that Ryan was sucked into family life and not available to hang out as often.

"Oh, you know I've always got something working. Building out this camp was a round-the-clock time-suck for awhile, but now I've got _these_ to keep me busy." She produced a handful of soft cover leather-bound books from under her bed.

Javier wiped his hands on the cloth napkin to ensure no syrup marred the books. They looked old and some were very worn around the edges.

"They're the Commander's journals." She explained, "part of my inheritance."

Javi thumbed through the pages, unable to make out any of the writing.

"Took me the better part of a year to decipher the first one. It's a combination of morse code, Enigma cipher, and something Earnest created himself, as far as I can tell."

Espo asked, "So you can read these?"

"I've been transcribing each one." She motioned to a thick manuscript on her desk. "I'm through book three right now, but there are more than 13 total in the collection."

"Wow. What an undertaking. What's he write about?"

"His outposts mostly. Starts with him on the front lines, and his platoon buddies, sometimes with lots of detail. Includes his letters home. He kept on writing all the way through until he passed. I'm just hoping I got the volumes that include his last big promotion, and what it was like to lead a battalion…" Her voice lowered to a whisper, "…and when he met my mom."

"I'm sorry to hear he's gone." What Javi wouldn't give for that kind of man looking out for him growing up.

She nodded tightly at his condolences.

Esposito's imagination was captured. "I'd love to read them. You planning to publish it?"

"Haven't decided yet. The first books have some gems, but I think I'll wait until I know where the whole story leads before I make any decisions about it."

Kai-Rhee noticed that Javier's eyes were staring though her plate as he started in on his breakfast again. "You wanna read what I've got so far? I can send you back with a copy, if you're interested."

"Really?"

"Of course, if I find a single phrase of it leaked online…"

He finished her sentence, "…I won't be waking with the sunrise. I know, I know. I may not be a genius, but I don't have a death wish. I know better than to tempt Valkyrie vengeance."

\o/

* * *

Rick and Kate joined Bob and Delphi under the caterer's tent near the shoreline. Their wives were still sleeping off last night's bender.

"Pass the croissants, would you there, Nermal?"

"Of course. So, Bob… excuse me, I mean, Creed. What can you tell me about how Kai-Rhee came to set up camp on this island if it belongs to a private defense R&D group?"

Creedon looked around to see who might be listening. "Well, I can't confirm the validity of my allegations, but there _**is**_ a possibility that a former satisfied client sits on the executive board of said group. And it may or may not have something to do with her father's best friend and his recent promotion to the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Adnan nodded at the peaked interest in Castle's eyes.

Bob dropped his voice into a graciously dismissive tone. "Now, I would never suggest that one of our own is involved in any sort of bribery scandal, but I think it's safe to say that the military industrial complex, as a whole, likes to express their undying support and deep gratitude to the brave men and women in uniform, no matter how high up the political ladder they climb."

Beckett and Castle exchanged glances.

Delphi smirked. "I told you Spidey hears all. Don't come anywhere near this man, if you have a secret that needs keeping."

Detective Beckett pressed, "So, what do you think the nature of their research is over there?"

"There's not a whisper. Not even in international circles. I had three months to sniff around after we made our reservation with Kai-Rhee, and I couldn't pick up even a vapor trail of intel."

"Well, that seems highly suspicious." Rick straightened and turned toward Beckett. "Wouldn't there be people, researchers with families and lives that they report back to? I would think that knowing who was there would make it easy to deduce what kind of projects are being worked on currently. It's got to be a highly specialized field, no?"

Bob answered, "Oh, it is. And the pay grade makes it highly sought after work. University researchers have sold their soul to get on the payroll."

Delphi countered, "_**Or alternately**_, have fought tooth and nail to keep their findings from being hijacked by groups like this. It's not unheard of for a Uni to get a new College of Science and Engineering outfitted with the latest high tech upgrades in trade for a shiny new piece of scientific research they imagine applications for. Even tenured faculty have gotten the axe for trying to oppose deals like that."

Creedon confirmed, "All true. It usually causes plenty of ripples in the pond."

"But you've heard _**nothing**_ about who's working there now?"

"Not a knat's wing flutter."

Beckett watched Castle's imagination ignite like a bonfire. Before he could articulate something ludicrous, she ran preemptive defense, "Now, that doesn't mean there's anything illegal going on here. We have no evidence of wrong doing."

Adnan chimed in, "Wouldn't matter if you did. We are off the map in terms of lawful authority. People on this island can do whatever they see fit and never break a single law. For us, the Master Sergeant is judge, jury and executioner, unless we find a meaner junk yard dog to overturn her."

"My partner here is right. Even though I'm a sucker for privileged information, operations like the one next door have more money and power than all the billionaire jet setters that have ever graced good Camp Krypton combined. This is **not** an issue to sniff about, without cause."

Kate fought her urges for control, telling herself that without a crime, _'I'm only on this trip to relax.'_ But natural curiosity tore her down within a few minutes. "Maybe we can ask Espo's cousin Peddie about the surveillance he's done. Maybe he's seen things he's not at liberty to report. If he says there's no cause for alarm, than we can all go back to our restful weekend." She was praying that her little wager would satisfy her own yen to know, as much as her writer's.

Castle drummed his finger tips together. "Oh Kate, you're like magic. Here less that 24 hours and already uncovering the secret of the century."

* * *

**_The Ryans paired with parenthood is apparently MY kryptonite. In a strange twist of fate, Kevin + Chapter 7 has yet again proven the most difficult to write (just like my first fic, Your Eyes Only). _**

**_Fingers crossed, not sure I pulled it off, but a lot of props to Selim & Suzi for helping. And reviewers, yes, I'll be pirouetting around my kitchen in gratitude. _**

**_Next up: What's Lanie working on? Why is Ryan sleeping it off? What's Rick's first impression of Kate's new bathing suit?_**


	8. Chapter 8

After lunch and a swim in the ocean, Beckett knew Castle was getting awfully restless. He appeared to have only barely noticed Lanie's string bikini present for him. It was starting to piss her off.

She was trying to be understanding. Kate was cognizant that surviving a week of Kai-Rhee's elite training program, when the writer had no background in physical sciences to support such a leap, bordered on wonderworking. She often took note of Castle's powers of adaptation, but how he managed to earn a grunt name faster than anyone else at camp still gave her pause.

When Adnan related the story of Rick's 'freefall of faith' over breakfast, Kate had inquired about the other men in Castle's cohort. _**None**_ of them had proven themselves in less than 5 days, and _**all**_ of them had backgrounds in some sport or military training to draw on. _'__It__'__s amazing he__'__s still walking, let alone in good humor.__' _

Before she arrived, the skeptical part of Beckett would've taken odds that a forlorn little Ricky in a sling would be greeting her at the docks. Even though his easy laugh appeared to be genuine and mostly pain-free, she was sympathetic with Rick's nighttime exhaustion and daytime desire to include her in the celebration with his new friends. _'__Maybe he__'__s just putting on a brave face.__'_

Still, watching Castle's gaze skip around camp and dilate to a soft focus while his mind puzzled out possibilities for a non-urgent mystery, instead of adoring her dripping body, the words 'taken for granted' and 'married' and 'clueless' bit at the edges of her attention. The first bathing suit she wore for him made the smooth operator blabber like an idiot. '_And that wasn__'__t even a two-piece!__'_

She wanted to give her fiancé the benefit of the doubt. So many changes were happening so fast for them. _'Besides, that scientific study I read reported that I don't have to worry about things like that until 3 years and 6 months into this thing..."_ She cross-examined herself, _'...Unless that countdown started from the time we fell in love, instead of the day we got engaged. Then I'm screwed.'_

Castle was fiddling with his phone, despite barely being dried off. "Ya know, it says my texts are going through, but Esposito isn't answering."

To his credit, Rick's mind was swatting at enigmatic flashing lights as much for Kate, as for himself. Their shared compulsion to unravel riddles gave him hope that his third marriage would succeed where his first two had failed. Because _**neither**_ Rick nor Kate could rest without answers, they normalized it for each other.

True, curiosity had him in a familiar mousetrap. But he knew _**she**_ couldn't relax and enjoy their time together with question marks looming, either. If the weekend was turning Hamptons-ish on them, he wanted to get a jump on things, so they still had time for bedroom rewards by firelight.

"Cool your jets, conspiracy buff, did it ever occur to you that Espo and Kai-Rhee are _**busy **_catching up?"

The writer squeezed his forehead between his thumb and forefingers, "Oh, right, yeah that idea still breaks my brain a little when I try to wrap my thoughts around it."

Kate rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but she didn't ride you like a float in the Thanksgiving day parade."

"I'm sorry?"

"Not like that." Castle tried to un-shove his foot from his mouth by explaining his accidental innuendo. "I mean she stood on my back to teach me how to do push-ups." His timber dropped an octave. "Which worked brilliantly, by the way, remind me to show you."

Kate crossed her arms to settle in for the rest of his hole digging.

"What I mean to say is, it's hard for me, as her pawn, to imagine the queen with the knight."

Kate countered, "Why can't Esposito be the king in that analogy?"

"Uh, well, I don't know…" As he thought about it, he cast his eyes out to the trees that hid the path to Kai-Rhee's quarters. "…maybe because he'd need to marry her for that to fit."

Beckett's features nodded diagonally for a second to admit his argument had some merit. "Well, I think it's only logical to assume that something of greater import is going on between them, if he flew this far for an overnight. He's obviously not here for the sun, since we haven't seen him out of doors all day."

Whatever was happening between her friend and the Master Sergeant was _**their**_ business. Of course, Kate hoped that **whatever it was** wouldn't be too hard on her best friend, but Lanie had drawn her line in the sand ages ago. She couldn't fault Esposito for pursuing something that might be important to him. For the good of workplace relations, Beckett had a strict policy to keep her nose out of Esplanie business whenever possible.

Katherine lifted her towel and let it float down onto the sand in a fully unfurled rectangle. "Now, put down your phone, and show me what a good job you are going to do applying my sunscreen."

Finally, Rick's eyes registered the tiny triangles that were keeping Kate from full frontal nudity. Gleaming shoulders, a trimly disappearing navel, legs for days pouring into bare feet that he found uniquely pleasing.

'_Her feet are __**naked!**__'_ Without her ubiquitous heels, Kate's ankles looked positively indecent bent at 90 degrees in broad daylight. Like something only a privileged few had ever seen. He could barely refrain from voicing his lustful appreciation, as his eyes rose again over every lean curve to the hair she was sweeping up into a twist at the nape of her neck.

Much like his first encounter with undercover Beckett in swimwear, he had nothing intelligent to say. "Good thing we are lawless here, cause that body can't be legal."

Ignoring his barely audible cat-call, she turned to torture him with the dainty bow tied at her bra line. "I need your help reaching right here."

With a full view of Kate's 'assets,' the author's mind tumbled even lower with a rush of blood to his lower half. Indecorous phrases he had contributed to the creation of Cards Against Humanity highjacked his train of thought, in particular 'tasteful sideboob.'

She stood like a mannequin, arm extending the lotion, waiting patiently for her bait to hook.

He jumped to her service. "Yes, ma'am."

\o/

* * *

Hoax stopped two-thirds of the way up the steps to Kai-Rhee's side porch, put his hands over his eyes and sang out, "Knockity-knock, any boots I shouldn't be seein' need to put themselves away?" As mid-afternoon approached, he felt like he had waited long enough to get his answers.

Both Espo and Evans were enjoying the sun from the elevated platform that adjoined her kitchenette/dining area. They saw no need for clothes as they soaked themselves in the naturally heated warm tub set into the deck's surface. They'd been slipping back and forth between that and its twin basin, shaded and filled with chilled water, for over an hour. The hot soak and cool splash had every taut muscle on their overworked bodies relaxed into childlike surrender.

Javier was rubbing her feet, getting a kick out of both how wrinkled they'd become, and how ticklish they remained in all the same spots he remembered.

Kai-Rhee squawked in amusement as she slipped on her bathing suit and threw Roc his swim trunks. "Ha. When'd you get so clever Hoaxy? Did the Miami imports live up to their high price tag last night? Maybe circulating blood flow to new parts of your head?"

Their caller knew better than to budge an inch until a formal invitation was offered. He yelled up over the railing, "Now, now, no need to insult the ladies, just cause they only come down when I offer Cristal and caviar on ice. I know deep down they really love me for my sensitive soul."

"Of course they do. Just like my clients stay on week after week because I'm so _**nurturing**_." She winked at Esposito.

Noticing that everyone on deck was decent, she issued, "Coast's clear. C'mon up and join us, friend."

"Ah, enjoying the homes of Aquaman and Topo, I see. Excellent choice on such a fine and lustrous day." The massive man swept his arms in a grandiose gesture towards the blue sky, the sun, and the wind playing though the treetops around them.

Javier guessed that much poetry must have familiar origins. He made a show of sizing up the munitions specialist with tattoos dancing down his arms. "I think you're right. I believe your sidekick here got lucky last night."

Hoax curled his fist around his goatee and pulled downwards, "I told you, RocStedy, aint no luck needed with this new look I'm sportin." He smoothed back his slick black hair and readjusted his sunglasses.

Evans joined in teasing her co-worker, "Does this mean you'll stay on for another week?"

The comment alarmed Javier, but he quickly noted that everyone's tone remained jovial.

"Oh, I guess, if you twist my arm like that. I mean how many chicas can I really put up with during the week? It's better I can concentrate on work until Friday night. Best of both worlds. Right, Roc?"

"Well, I don't suppose I'd know. But the theory sounds good."

"Aww, man. You sweatin' under the weight off all those do-gooder heroics up there in the real world? Apparently, all we needed to do was jump off the grid and pimp ourselves out to Richie Rich and friends, and suddenly the world is our oyster." He started chuckling at his own metaphor, "And you know what oysters do to El Libido Capitán."

"That good, huh?"

The imposing man pulled down his sunglasses with a single finger at the bridge of his nose, locking his naked eyeballs with Esposito's. "Bro, I'mma retire before you vet half your paltry pension…" He pushed his eyewear back into place. "…if we keep at this pace."

Turning toward Kai-Rhee, Hoax explained, "If anyone can 'dance' like they've got diamonds at the meeting of their thighs, it's this 'phenomenal woman' right here. Except the oil wells pumping in _**her **_back yard are lily livered trust funders and folks like your writer friend, with too many zero's ending their bank account balance." He shook his head in disbelief. "They just don't know what to do with all that cake, until we show 'em."

Esposito laughed along, but he could hear Hoax' ambivalence about a job that didn't entail him saving the day, with all his finely honed special talents. Big man _**loved**_ going on missions. It was the downtime in between that broke his spirit. He figured as long as Kai-Rhee and Hoax had each other there to see the other one in their most noble light, they'd be okay padding their futures. Guilt of lost purpose was less likely to trap them in relative poverty if they could hold out a little longer for each other.

Espo'd be lying to say he hadn't thought about it, too.

\o/

* * *

As Kai-Rhee and Hoax discussed camp business, Javier retreated into memory. He would _never_ forget that case. Or that _ride_.

It was just sitting there. A $60 million diamond. In his cup holder! In the center console of his car, between Ryan's seat and his, was enough money to make a conscience obsolete.

Instinctively, Espo took inventory. _'__Three quarters of a tank of gas. One leather jacket. And enough horsepower to make the border via dirt roads, if necessary.__'_

One powder blue argyle sweater vest notwithstanding, he liked their chances for a split second, while the temptress of self-determination shot like cocaine through his veins.

Once they'd found out its value, his arm on the steering wheel had done most of the driving all by itself. Esposito's mind was in Tijuana, Colombia, Rio, Sao Paolo, _'__Hell, even Paraguay would do.__'_ It didn't matter where they'd end up. He'd be the center of his own universe with that kind of currency. _'__And I__'__d look damn good on a horse, if Uruguay turned out to be our best bet.__' _

That was several months ago, but he still smarted from the losses of the day. _'__If only Ryan had the rocks to take that gem south of the border, before my baby got shot to pieces.__'_

The whole episode was filled with clenched teeth and flared nostrils for Espo. It was sad enough trying to un-imagine a life of leisure and southern hemisphere honeys that could have been his _**if **_his partner had been the type to skip the country with evidence. But then they had to roll back to the precinct in a patrol car because his crimson chariot looked like an overgrown cheese grater after the ensuing shoot out punched her full of unnecessary holes.

Luckily, there was no way to prove whether Esposito would have gone through with a plan like that. Having a straight-and-narrow partner, like Ryan, meant that Javi could take the part of one ready to trash his life of valor for a lotto ticket, making him infinitely 'cooler' than Kevin in theory, while never needing to prove it.

After nearly two decades of redemption, Espo had most likely shed the ability to revert to Javi-hellion. Even though he'd gotten into a lot of trouble during his formative years, his entire adult life had been pledged to protect and serve his country in one form or another.

'_At least we got the guy, eventually__…' _Honestly, Esposito was more proud of the fact that he was able to cover his partner in a storm shower of bullets. _'…__and Ryan didn__'__t get a scratch.__' _

\o/

* * *

Hoax yanked the detective from his flashback with a hypothetical offer. "Maybe you wanna get in on this action? I don't know what we'd do with a _**sniper**_ on deck, but maybe we could find some use for your sorry ass if you ever got bored with freedom, justice, and the American way."

The relaxation level in the hot tub plummeted precipitously.

Both Kai-Rhee and Javier felt their stomachs drop into their feet at the suggestion. They traded awkward glances over the idea that they make something more long term out of their relationship, even in the employment sense.

Espo covered the strain with an awkward smile, "Thanks, man. I'll keep that in mind."

Hoax picked up on the tension rippling out, so he got to his point. "So, Lady Gaga, you gonna fill me in on your agreement with our boy Fitz? I thought hell or high water couldn't change your mind on that communiqué moratorium."

"I get control over the tower by Sunday night, or the deal is off. You can gab all you want over the weekend. But come Monday it's radio silence. I thought you'd be happy about that."

"Oh, I am. That means I can stream _Generation Kill _this weekend. You know I love that shit. I'm just wondering why the sudden change of heart."

"Nermal's detective friend needed to check on her cases. She works homicide."

"Oh, I see." Hoax smiled at Javier, knowing why she'd gone circuitously around the easier explanation of 'Roc's friend needed a favor.'

"So, you aren't concerned about crossing wires with our neighbors anymore?"

"It's not entirely off the table, but it is a statistical long shot. It was never in our agreement that I keep outta the airwaves. I was just playing it safe to keep the distractions at a minimum."

"And now? You are less concerned with playing it safe?"

She looked at her Roc sitting there in her hot tub, steam rising around him, smoldering as his eyes narrowed around the far off target of his thoughts while he tried to follow their coded conversation. Everything about him was pulling her into scenarios that she would otherwise never consider.

She definitely wasn't playing it 'safe' right now.

"I guess you could say that."

Hoax didn't really care about the margin for error. Most of the day he wished badass trouble would come rolling up D-Day style on their beach and give him an excuse to break out the flame throwers stashed in their underground bunker. A life of wall-to-wall business as usual was not really his style, but he still wanted to know how fast and loose they were playing it. This was no small change operation they were gambling with. If trouble was headed their way, he needed to move assets discreetly and in a hurry.

"Alright, chief, just lemme know if anything develops that I need to know about."

"Of course, friend."

"Now, I'm gonna go check on our guests. You two can punch your Wonder Twin fists back together, and transform into whatever Kai-Roc monster you were creating before I crashed this party."

As Hoax started descending the stairs, Evans chucked her flip-flop over the railing hitting him directly in the temple. She turned toward Roc and feigned total ignorance when the big man searched for the culprit. Her associate laughed heartily at how close to the mark his comment must've fallen to get that kind of rise out of either one of them.

As he flumped down each rung of the wood plank staircase he chuckled to himself, "Looks like the island's bout to get a helluva lot more interesting soon."

As he descended the last 3 steps he chortled at his own misplaced anticipation, _'__I know I__'__m not supposed to be rooting for trouble, but__…'_

"Yippy. Kai. Yay."

\o/

* * *

The sleepiest scruffy Ryan voice came through the receiver, "Hey, Lanie. You alright?"

Surprised to hear Kevin still groggy at 2 pm on a Saturday, she answered, "I suppose I should be asking _**you**_ that question. Rough night?"

"Uh, yeah." He rubbed his forehead still unwilling to open his eyes. "My niece beat me in high stakes twister." He let his arm flop back to the bed, finding even the small movement too strenuous. "I plan to sleep until the memory fades."

"High stakes, huh? What'd she win?"

"Unlimited rounds of karaoke with Uncle Ryan as her duet partner."

"Awww, that sounds fun. I thought you loved to sing."

"If I never hear the word 'frozen' or the phrase 'let it go' for the rest of my life, it will be too soon."

Parrish could see why a compliant Kevin Ryan would make a popular choice among five year olds in snowflake tiaras. She wondered if he'd been cast as the love interest, or maybe the silly snowman. In either scenario, the forehead creases of discomfort as the detective tried to harmonize with an off-key kindergartener seemed equally satisfying to imagine.

"Ouch.…Lemme guess, were you Mr. 'Love-is-an-open-door'? Or troll boy giving her piggyback rides over the trail?" When Ryan didn't confirm either choice, she guessed again, "Don't tell me you were the sister princess stuck in prison."

"Complete with sparkly tutu and dress up scarf hand cuffs," he admitted. "But those were the easy ones. It was my role as snowy mountain set piece that really hurt as she stood on my back to belt out her declarations of independence. I have no doubt my niece's strong foundation in self-determination will carry her through until _at least _junior high."

"That-a-girl." Lanie snorted at the image. "Well, I won't keep you. I'm just calling for Jenny's number. Got some wedding planning questions she might be able to answer."

Ryan's eyes popped wide. "Sorry?" He propped himself up on his elbows, hoping that righting his head would help him make sense of the conversation. "Did I miss something?"

"Not for me, genius. I told Beckett I'd look into a few things, to help her de-stress."

He laid back down, _'__Whew, all is still right with the world. No BFF emotional crisis on the event horizon.__' _"Thank God."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean thank God you're helping Beckett. I'm sure that will be a big relief."

"Yeah, well, I'm not doing anything major." It occurred to Lanie, "Hey, have you talked to her yet? Did they arrive safely?" _'__Mm, awkward shift in pronoun. Hopefully he__'__s too sleepy to notice.__' _

Kevin, suddenly annoyed with his own frustrations, blurted out, "My _**partner**_ isn't answering his phone, but Beckett assures me they are all having a memorable jaunt in paradise."

A stab of regret for asking slid between Lanie's ribs.

"Well, that's nice to hear," she lied. "Maybe Beckett can actually keep her nose out of trouble for once."

Ryan cringed as Parrish's optimism flagrantly dared fate to send his boss a trail of leads. He added, "I think I'll call again later, just in case."

\o/

* * *

"Whatcha doin' big man? Need a hand?"

"I'm alright, Cannon. Just doing some inventory. I'll be up in a minute."

Cannon had been watching for longer than Hoax knew. He'd seen about a third of the stockpile of weapons and heavy artillery under the trap door of the kitchen's walk-in freezer before he'd said anything. Being the crown prince of the National Rifle Association's most influential family gave him an eye for all things that go boom.

He'd probably be a lot more familiar with the particular models in his view if he'd enlisted, but uncooperative tendons staged a coup taking both his Division One football scholarship _**and**_ his chance to serve active duty. Cannon had never relished the idea of shooting anyone, no matter whose 'side' they were on, but his family's blueprint for his life wasn't equipped with a plan C, so he'd never really looked into other options.

The last four years of a life stalled out on the sidelines had shown the young man just how quickly he could become obsolete to the engine of clan ambition. Cannon had come to Krypton just to escape his father's painful disinterest in his post-glory-days life. Earning his name from Kai-Rhee availed him of the first time he'd been proud of himself in years. Maybe the first time **ever** that he'd won something purely for himself. He felt reborn again, despite the flabby layers still padding his waistline. He didn't want to go home anytime soon.

Hoax latched the metal door in the floor, and slid a heavy box of frozen meat over it to keep it out of sight.

"You bored with buffet already, Cannon? I got those Queensland prawns just for you, since you made such a fuss over them last time."

"Shucks, man, thanks. You didn't have to do that. I just came in to see if you need any help. Hate to be a burden, and I wanna stay on another week." The bulky blonde had totally re-thought his family's approach to 'hired-help' during the last few years. He balked at the notion that forking over money to Kai-Rhee was all he needed to do pull his weight around camp, now that he'd seen how much went into pulling it all together.

Hoax was eager to redirect attention away from the clandestine munitions. A soldier understood the last resort nature of such security precautions, but civilian clients usually played too much _Call of Duty_ to summon the reverence needed.

"Mighty decent of you, but I've got it handled." He wrapped his hulking arm around the young man's neck and pulled him in tighter. "I _**will**_ ask a favor though."

Cannon felt honored that Hoax would gesture something so close to camaraderie. "Sure thing, what can I do?"

"You can keep any observations of my '_inventory system__'_ in confidence." He leveled serious eyes over his sunglasses at Cannon. "It's my job to _**protect**_ clients here, not scare the living shit out of them. And I'm not sure everyone enrolled here can handle what you may have just seen. Am I making sense to you?"

"Absolutely. Hoax, I can appreciate what you're doing for us." He reassured, "You're in charge. I won't mention it to anyone, but if you need any help in that area, I know my way around. Just say the word."

"Good man." Hoax gave his client two thwumping pats on the back that could've broken ribs if they'd been accompanied with a clenched fist.

Cannon barely recovered enough voice to say, "Sure thing."

The trainer exited the kitchen cooly, but tapped his notes nervously against his palm.

After coughing and righting himself from the 'brotherly' beating, Cannon added, "Anytime."

* * *

**_L.O.V.E. Suzi, Mindy, JJ & ALL reviewers. Wendy, GM, CD, putz, SG, BK & shellee: Y'all are good sports for lacing up your chastity belts during the build._**

**_Steam is rising. Next up: What kind of theories is Castle concocting? What's a soldier to do with their emotions when it's time for a brave face? And which detective 'gets down' before sunset?_**


	9. Chapter 9

_**This installment is dedicated to someone special, with excellent taste in T-shirt designs ;-) because "Even on the worst days, there's a possibility for joy."**_

**Author's Note: **In this chapter, the muse demands I attempt something fairly terrifying for an author. (Yes, Master Sergeant. Whatever you say, Master Sergeant). If you decide to play along with the multi-media option, please make sure you are listening to the ACOUSTIC VERSION from Songs From the Front Porch. (The non-acoustic one will make zero sense here). Of course, I'm hoping it stands up without it, but I'm partial to dance parties with music, as some of you know.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the lyrical portion of this this chapter, nor the NY characters. As for the rest, my fingers just typed what Kai-Rhee dictated. Now those fingers are crossed that it finds the accepting place in the universe that she wanted. This is a 'Lock the door,' 'Put on earphones,' and 'Escape for a bit' type of chapter.

* * *

As Espo and Kai-Rhee finished their lunch in her kitchen, the comfortable silence grew into a restless fidget for Javier. He began to cast his eye around the solitary chamber that kept Valedictoria safely nestled away from the weekend's bustle. The east-facing deck and tubs were bathed with bright light, but the adjoining wall of overstuffed bookshelves hung in shadow. Her desk near the front door looked over the treetops to the ocean. As he panned his eyes back to the kitchen, he noticed she hadn't made the bed they'd shared last night. Espo considered teasing Evans for relaxing her 'bounce-a-quarter-off-the-bed-sheet' standards, but stopped short when he saw her eyes much more contemplative than expected.

"You okay?"

She took a sip of her tea. Her mood had dropped down straight past hospitable to unaccommodating honesty.

"Don't I look it?" she said flatly, staring ahead of her, bringing her mug down to the table and cradling it with both hands.

Esposito's half scowl was the placeholder for conversation as he tried to size up what might have brought on this shift in disposition. _'__Is she done with me? Had her fun and ready to kick me out? That__'__d never been our way before, but it__'__s been a long time now. Maybe she needs to move on to other concerns? Did Hoax stir up something?__'_

"You look like you want to be alone. My in the way?"

"I don't want to be alone." Her statement didn't change anything about her demeanor, or clear up his other questions.

He wasn't much for emotional care taking. They both knew that, but he didn't want to leave. Espo searched through his memories for something useful.

"You still gotta playlist?"

After a beat, she turned to look at him with a smile of recognition fighting its way across her features, reclaiming her human connection.

"Only you." She shook her head in disbelief that he remembered this about her, and would bring it up exactly when she started stonewalling. "Yeah, I still gotta playlist." She flicked her fingers toward the bookshelf and speakers.

He gave her a smile with let's-get-into-trouble written all over it, pushed himself away from the table, and went to investigate.

In front of the paperbacks, he found a CD case opened with the lyric book unfolded across the length of the shelf. He turned over the black and white pictures and scanned the titles of the songs.

"Which one?"

"Stay Human"

Even uttering the _**name**_ of the song she'd been playing on repeat made her feel exposed. She told herself that if she couldn't open up to Roc, then she was a lost cause. She gritted her teeth against her own defensiveness. Being made of iron, without a war to fight, did more harm than good if she couldn't dial it back when she wanted to. She was trying to make an honest go of civilian life. And this song, for some reason, pushed all her buttons on the issue.

"This is an old CD, isn't it?" He looked at the copyright _'__2003 Michael Franti.__'_ That sounded familiar. "Acoustic, huh? This the same Franti from _Disposable Heroes_?"

"Yep." She smiled wryly to distract him from how vulnerable she felt, "He's a fucking vegan now."

Espo snuffed and turned back to find the title on the booklet.

He remembered the front man's didactic rap style creating quite a stir in the barracks back in the day. Esposito had no use for it. He felt like getting involved with the politics of war made for shitty soldiering. His job was to execute. Anything that got in the way of that didn't make it past his filter. But Kai-Rhee had a bumper sticker on her boombox that read 'Killing is Good Ratings.' She must have played that anti-television title track a zillion times before she gave up her boob tube for good. '_Wow, that was a long time ago.__' _They were just babies. Angry, me-against-the-world, trained-to-kill babies, with so much to prove.

"So, why now?"

"Dunno. Simon brought me this disc years ago, when we were in New York. Guess I wasn't ready to listen to it, til now."

"When were you in the city?" He couldn't help feeling a little hurt that she hadn't come to see him.

"I went to get some certifications I thought I'd need for this place. I wasn't in town long. I didn't see anyone. Wasn't really that kind of trip." She knew that sounded cold, but didn't know how to say, _'__I was fucking unstable after re-entry. I could barely handle one foot in front of the other.__'_

Espo thought about what it might have meant to see her against the backdrop of his life in NYC, what time period it might have been. Would he have been at the 54th? Or maybe before that? Might not have mattered. He would've refused her, if she'd tried to visit during his time in treatment at the VA. The thought dropped him back into the uncomfortable metal folding chairs of his first support group.

His PTSD counselor pedaled a lot of touchy feely bullshit that Esposito never bought into. But the fact remained that a few of the things touted there **were** essential to Javier's fight back to mental stability. Espo could hear his counselor's words admonishing him now, _'__Admitting what you__'__ve been through doesn__'__t make you weak. It means you__'__ve got enough distance to master it. Especially with other vets, maybe they need to hear you speak up first.__' _

Still facing the bookshelves, Javier offered, "I might not have been around anyway. I didn't have an easy go of it when I got back."

'_Whoa, did Roc just admit there was something he couldn__'__t handle? What__'__s going on here?__' _

Her stunned silence begged him to expound.

Espo put on his proud emotional distance face, and turned his chin over his shoulder, repeating the words he'd practiced a hundred times since going through therapy. "It wasn't easy, but I did what I needed to do."

His eyes went back to the CD player. After fiddling with the controls, he cued track number 8.

Javier turned toward her, and held out his hand, summoning all the easy charm his face could manage. Keeping his muscles relaxed, he stood heavy into his heels, determined to make her feel like she could trust him just as much as if she _**were**_ his boo. He had no plans to let her wriggle out of this request.

"You wanna dance?"

Damn those eyes, his bare chest hanging loosely from all the tension they'd been releasing with each other. She was gonna do this, wasn't she?

* * *

She returned her mug to the table, and drug herself up from her chair. Every step across the room felt like free fall into a place without a floor. She knew her missing autonomy was gonna slam her fragile side into him, with more force than she was comfortable with. She just prayed her Roc wouldn't buckle from the impact.

Javier drew her in with strong hands on her lower back. Kai-Rhee curled her arms up over his neck and reminded herself to breathe.

The music surprised him. The acoustic twang of solo guitar strings seemed to lay a net of quiet beauty over the room, bringing the energy down to something sweetly tragic. This wasn't the kind of song they had danced to back during his qual.

Evans was already embarrassed before the deep sandpaper voice sang the first lyric. The words were silly and flowery. Only Franti's soulful voice could make them sound like gospel truth in this stripped down acoustic version.

_**Starvation… is a creation of the devil…**_

'_I'm really gonna go through these images with him holding me? He's gonna see everything.' _She cringed that feelings ever had to be dealt with, that they couldn't just incinerate themselves upon contact with the surface of her skin.

…_**A rebel, I'm bringing food to the people like a widow **_

_**Bringing flowers to a grave in the middle**_

'_The war, my dad…and worst of all, him. This line about the city could fit no one else but Javi and how I felt in his city…'_

_**Of the city, isolation is a riddle**_

_**To be surrounded by a million other people **_

_**But feel alone like a tree in the desert **_

_**Dried up like the skin of a lizard…**_

Javier was listening too, but _**he**_ picked up on the image of the feline Kai-Rhee running through the trees when they first met.

_**Full of color like the spots of a leopard**_

And for some reason the percussive ear fall of…

_**Full of life, like a man gone to Mecca **_

…seemed to fit exactly how he felt right now, having traveled so far out of his world for something like a pilgrimage to his past.

They stood for a moment letting the cathartic sounds seep into their flesh, images of all the people they had been before double-exposed over their faces. Both stood frozen in fear that they'd be dreamfasted to this moment, as much as to each other. It wasn't usually their style to come at each other so head-on like this.

Javier had worried on the flight down that his increasing appreciation for mortality would have him clawing onto her, since she connected him to the younger Javier who still thought he was immortal. The urge made him panicky. During the flight, he'd taken to curling his fists to wring it out of his system.

Every case with Beckett seemed to have something unusual in it, but the murder of the Wall Street trader they'd just solved was hard to put to bed for some reason. Peter Cordero's American dream seemed to come true after emigrating as an orphan from Venezuela. He escaped the gangs to become a self-made man, standing up to the financial giants at JP Harding. And after all that struggle and triumph, his life _**still**_ ended too soon in bloodied violence.

Thinking on it made Esposito feel kind of hopeless. Evans' impenetrable strength felt like everything he needed to face his own future, whether fate would make it violent or not. He'd made good. He knew it. And he loved his team, but they'd attended too many funerals and hospital rooms recently to think endless good luck was guaranteed.

He clutched his hands onto the muscles rippling out from either side of her spine, as if he could manually clutch his own life force. Javier didn't feel 'done' yet. He was too old to die in blissful ignorance, but too young to have played his last hand. It was an uncomfortable bed of nails to lie on for someone who regularly put their life on the line.

Espo had outgrown the old ways of strapping on his gun, but hadn't yet decoded the replacement mindset. Of course, he could still do it, but the comforting mantras had all been censored by his better judgement over the years. Without them,his** mind** was in control of the sidearm, but he felt a few empty sockets in his **will,** where before he could plug into something greater than himself.

No one ever wanted to feel like they pulled a trigger alone. Even when it was true.

He'd never admit it, even to himself, but Kai-Rhee's reappearance was giving him a just-in-time existential antidote.

* * *

Afternoon sunlight painted amber-wheat light across the unmarred side of Kai-Rhee's face. Javier marveled how the new lines, on the half in shadow, formed a number 7. He wondered if he'd be out of line running his fingers across her forehead and down her cheek, tracing the pattern, kissing her skin where hairline discolorations spidered across her chin. Espo didn't want to risk it.

To him, her scars seemed to accentuate her superhuman powers, like Storm's lightning bolt come to earth.

When they were younger she came off wildly elemental. Now it seemed the disambiguated rage that fueled her had reorganized itself in a new articulation. She was still a force of nature, but now her power gathered in something more like a goddess. Not the westerly kind with frilly skirts and flower garlands, of course, more like the easterly version that rode tigers and beheaded the unrighteous.

But his hands on her lower back could testify, she was still very much made of flesh. Even more amazing was the fact that she was in his arms again, for real.

* * *

Valedictoria blushed when a brand new realization hit her. She'd listened to this song almost a hundred times. However, this go round it was clear that even more lines applied to Roc, after a morning spent with the honeyed texture of his voice dripping into her ear.

_**I speak low but I'm like a lion roarin,' **_

_**Baritone like a Robeson recordin' **_

She sent her eyes to study every detail of Javi's face. The tiny vertical divot above his right brow, the beauty mark to the left of his nose, the shadow of stubble on his chin gave her strange comfort. She'd been in this same room, recalling embellished memories of a younger Roc, all week.

'_He's definitely improving with age.'_

When she played this song, her mind's eye went wild with images: Running with him over sand. Crumbling under his puppy dog eyes that begged her to get him out of some jam he'd worked himself into. Quivering under his body suspended above her. Melting in his eyes starved with desired.

She ran one set of fingers up the back of his neck through the short hair on his scalp, while the other plunged between his thickly padded shoulder blades. _'__He feels more solid. Guess Roc still fits.__' _

As the song played on, old memories flooded her levy: his tricep tensed over his rifle, his right eye closed to target, paired with a dirty smile as he mentioned something wholly inappropriate and hilarious in an offhanded whisper. _'__**No one**__ could make me laugh when I didn__'__t want to__…'__cept this joker.__'_

Thank God there weren't car radios on the island to accidentally bombard her with this tune in front of others. She'd be a mess if this much want leaked outside these walls.

* * *

As Javier dropped two wet lips to kiss her glistening shoulder, and deltoid, and curve of her neck, the rhyme ushered her quickly to the silent prayer that she offered up every time she heard…

_**I'm givin' thanks for being human every morning**_

'_Hope I'm living up to that,' _her pavlovian response.

Kai-Rhee didn't know if she deserved the torrent of pleasure Javier's lips were injecting into her hypothalamus, but that didn't surprise her. She didn't know **a lot** **of things**.

She didn't know why she had set-up shop on this island. Why she felt she needed to remove herself from active duty. Why here? Why now? But somehow that lyric about gratitude plucked the strings of her super-ego as if she was supposed to know what it all meant.

When she sat in crossed-legged lotus at the foot of the Buddha, sometimes she just repeated that line of the song like a mantra, hoping all would be revealed.

When that didn't work she fell back on 7 centuries of absolution. _'If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.'_

* * *

When the chorus came in with a drum beat, they began to move their hips in a sway side to side. The energy built in delicious tension inside the deep pocket between the 6 and the 8 count. Roc and Kai-Rhee threaded their legs. The slow pumping of knees in time with the rhythm, gave their bodies the opportunity to reintroduce themselves.

A dialog of sculpted muscle began to melt copper and caramel skin over the years of silence between them.

The thunderbolt of his energy swiping against her inner thigh was the only thing that made sense to her inside the whirlpool of feelings. That connection seemed to be the only reason she could stand to feel so emotionally naked when the singer proclaimed:

_**Every flower got a right to be bloomin' **_

_**Stay human**_

The expanding of Javi's senses allowed him to take in her every detail, his every sensation,_** and**_ every note of music. Just like their first time together, birds and people played outside, the world went on, while for them time slowed. Only the musical measures proceeding reassured him that the clocks hadn't stopped ticking altogether.

* * *

Evans couldn't stand it anymore, she needed to lean into him physically to match her emotional swell. She'd held back the tide for so long, that now it was ready to release with tsunami force. She pressed her sternum into Javier with gradually more force until he had to move. The steady pressure swept him across the room one foot at a time. Eventually it pushed them both to the bed.

With anyone else, Espo would have taken this as bullying. No question, he would have balked rather than hand over control. Fortunately, with Kai-Rhee, he didn't need to fight. In fact, he was grateful that her current was sweeping him downriver. There was never a doubt that wherever she was headed would be a good place for him to go. He'd felt vulnerable with her before, in small doses. And these movements into uncharted waters felt like they could only bring good things, no matter how scary the ride.

_**The negativity we keep it at a distance **_

_**Call for back-up and I give you some assistance **_

_**Like a life saver deep in the ocean**_

_**Stay afloat here upon the funky motion**_

In the rising tide of brackish energies between them, Esposito wondered whether he heard a reference to an arresting officer hiding in the melody.

_**To legalize it will give you your freedom.**_

_**You want rights? Ask him to read 'em.**_

He tried to listen more closely to the chorus, as she pressed him back into the pillow.

_**Because the streets are alive with the sound of **_

_**Boom Baht. Can I hear it once again? **_

_**Boom Baht. Tell your neighbor. Tell a friend. **_

_**Every flower got a right to be bloomin' **_

* * *

Kai-Rhee straddled her legs to either side of his hips to brace herself for the bridge. She felt sure that her friend would see right through her to the place that made her feel like she wasn't worth anyone's time. She knew it was corny, and irrational, and just plain untrue, but emotions were little cunt fuckers when it came to reality. That's why she tied them up in songs on her playlist, and didn't let them out to screw with her real life. They'd easily decimate all she worked for.

_**Because all the freaky people make the beauty of the world**_

_**all the freaky people make the beauty of the world…**_

Every time the line repeated, Valedictoria buried her head a little deeper into the crook of Javi's neck. An old phrase from basic training hoodwinked her from behind, _'__YMRASU!__' _she admitted to herself. 'Yes, My Retarded Ass Signed Up,' seemed to fit this situation she had gotten herself into, even more than explaining 'US ARMY' backwards.

She'd almost forgotten what it stood for, but this time the slang, dredged up from her memories, made her cringe guiltily. '_No, I__'__m worse, way worse.__'_ Since her time as a grunt she'd had occasion to meet people with actual mental challenges. One young woman in particular had nearly burst her heart open. She seemed to have it all figured out when it came to expressing her heart. _'__She__'__s the master. I__'__m earning a D minus, as far as all that goes.__' _

'_So many words don__'__t mean what they used to, like weeds, choking out what I meant to seed.__'_

Valedictoria was being hard on herself for the errant thoughts that rushed in with a flash flood of emotions. Her brain, normally, was a well-ordered place. She rarely let an out-of-line comment slip, even inside her own head. Usually, she equated affectivity with handing her island over to the Lord of the Flies. The phrase 'over my dead body' seemed apt.

_**all the freaky people make the beauty of the world…**_

She quivered with the desire to merge with Roc. Even though she'd gotten very good at faking it, Evans didn't drive her own regency anymore. Getting caught by the edges of an explosion blew up her semblance of control. In the mirror, each line on her skin screamed, _'__You__'__ll never be __'__whole__' __again, and everyone can see it.__' _

She wasn't vain. It hadn't occurred to her that she'd miss her symmetry. _'__No, it was the orphans.__'_

The fearful look of children, who ran from her when she'd tried to evacuate them, still chased her peace. Her scars terrified them so wholly that she had to pass off the rations to Lamar, so he could give them something to eat. They were only small children, scared and lost after mortars leveled the only home they'd ever known. It shouldn't have hurt. But she couldn't shake it. Just as then, she prayed in Javier's arms for invisibility, for the power to poof into thin air, and never have to let herself be seen.

_**all the freaky people make the beauty of the world…**_

Even more, she wished she could _**believe**_ this goofy anthem Franti was flaunting. It seemed both impossible, and essential to her future at the same time.

Evans envied musicians who could sing songs like the one they were listening to. They never had to worry about people judging them for their sentiments, because it was 'just a song.' No matter how ridiculous it would sound in spoken word, how contrite scribbled in pen, music made anything possible. '_What freedom!__' _

Permission to believe wasn't enough. She needed proof.

Kai-Rhee needed Roc's body to submit it's statement without a single word spoken. A body could be mislead, but it couldn't lie, not for long. If she was really lucky, he'd accept her without a hiccup of hesitance spiking the polygraph. If she was _**more than lucky**_, his hazelnut eyes would corroborate all the testimony his hands, and lips, and strong form gave her.

As her limbs explored the ways she could lean into her Roc, she found it was the swinging away from him in between their contact that gave her new life. On a more than physical level, he was the perfect fulcrum for her to catapult herself around. That must be why she'd called him here. She didn't fully understand why she'd invited him, until her body had a chance to find out for itself.

In the rise and fall of their union she could ride the swells high enough to get a glimpse of her future over the horizon. Surprisingly, she found the vista wasn't entirely stark.

* * *

Esposito saw their shift away from the vertical dance floor from another angle.

When Evans started steering him toward the bed he knew there was something very different going on for her. She was moving from a place of abandon, rather than control. It was clear that she was upping the ante, but damn if Espo knew what it meant. Even though he was older, and hopefully _a little_ wiser, interpreting women came no easier.

'_Maybe that__'__s it. Maybe she__'__s Val the woman right now, instead of Valkyrie the phenom.__'_

Even if he guessed right, it still gave him no clue what to do about it. That's why he'd asked her to dance. He thanked God for the music that allowed their bodies to work it out, where their words failed. With women, Javier was golden once he was through the gauntlet of verbal land mines that led to what he considered the 'real thing.'

_**Ya see, Y2K and 2 is a moment **_

_**In time we find that we can open **_

_**Up a heart that's locked up and broken **_

_**By the pain of words not spoken**_

He drew her chest against his. Espo knew he couldn't hold her pulsating strength for very long, but he planned to engage in every advance she'd give him. His detective side tried not to trip on his hunch that this song had something to do with the plane ticket she'd sent him.

_**Take a mental trip to the Bahamas**_

_**Steam your body in the stereo sauna…**_

He curled his head into the curve of her neck, and buried his face into her hair. Javi wanted to hide from the daylight that might make him appear unfit for the beauty she was unfolding before him.

If only he could hush the alarm bells of his security system. He didn't know how to convince himself it was okay to ignore his pre-sets.

Detective Esposito rarely felt entirely comfortable on his back. In this moment, though, it seemed 'right.' His current awkwardness originated instead from how completely he was willing to _**give in**_ to her lead. Normally, his defenses defaulted to a fairly high base minimum. In his world, an unguarded Espo was a loud invitation to others, even his partners, to count him out.

This exchange with Evans had Javi's heart in his throat, the feeling he was never allowed to show in the 'real world.' Anything that approached this much vulnerability and love would basically guarantee him that he'd be cut down in a few seconds.

With Kai-Rhee above him, Javier didn't even mind thinking the word 'love.' It wasn't the same terrifying idea that threatened to strangle his freedom and crap on his dreams. What he felt for her had always been there. He was just allowing himself to revel in it for a few sunlit hours.

It wasn't possessive. He loved her the way someone might love a waterfall or a sunset. There was no need to claim her because of it. He felt like _everyone_ should appreciate her the way he did, even if he didn't think everyone was worthy of being so _**intimate **_in that pursuit.

Javier didn't presume that **he** deserved Kai-Rhee either, not in the larger sense. But he gave himself leave to enjoy her company, since he wasn't asking to keep her.

The palms of his hands traced the outline of sexy silhouette that she had smelted with years of sweat and determination. He'd never brag about the specifics of this moment, even though it clearly stood in a class by itself on the hotness scale, but he was branding it into his memories. Javier had been with beautiful women before. He'd even been with powerful women before. Kai-Rhee was something else. Kai-Rhee was a fireball.

It never occurred to him that his old friend might be thinking about her scars. As the vocals rose in crescendo, shouting about the 'freaky people' of the world, Esposito felt sure that they applied more to him, and his stubborn inadequacies, than to the incredible Valedictoria Evans.

* * *

"Beckett." Kate answered her phone instinctively, despite her best intentions to let it go to voice mail. When she realized her slip, she chalked it up to a hangover of lingering sensation left by Rick's hands on her skin._ '__That sunblock massage must still have me a little__…__gooey.__' _

She wasn't worried anymore about Castle's ability to focus on her. With slow, devout attention he'd traced every inch of her exposed skin with intricate patterns that made her feel like their patch of the Atlantic was spinning of the earth's axis.

As the minutes ticked by, and Richard showed no signs of completing his task, everyone else on the beach took their cue to round up a game by the volleyball net. Adnan had suggested that particular pastime to entice Cannon, whose adolescent drooling over a mostly naked Kate Beckett was beginning to make everyone uncomfortable.

Once the others were at a safe distance, Katherine's modesty gave in to the desire to dip her pelvis and respond to the sensations with toe wiggles in the soft sand. She wouldn't dare vocalize her appreciation in 'public.' But she didn't need to.

Castle was the type of man who enjoyed the patient un-spindling of a long gossamer thread through a maze of foreplay.

His mercurial mind was at play tracing labyrinthian patterns over the most mythic body he'd ever had the pleasure to fantasize about. He'd spent years pleasuring his Beckett muse, Nikki, with only the lace of his thought patterns. He had several volumes worth of ideas about how to make this woman, writhing under his finger tips, a very satisfied 'reader.'

As his imagination knit together new patterns to tantalize her with, it occurred to Castle that creativity might be the secret weapon that kept their love life exciting….still.

He felt so alive with Kate that a new hope of self-actualization pulsed through him. He saw himself growing into a more balanced Vitruvian Man since he'd met her. This week at Camp Krypton had brought that metaphysical truth into plain evidence in his physical form. '_And that was really Kate__'__s doing, too.__' _

Gina let him stretch out his ego.

Meredith let him exercise his acrobatics.

Kyra let his heart run long distance.

But, Kate?

Kate, let him do _**all of that! **_Plus, he got to workout his tireless mind. Castle felt like a mental-lympics hopeful with the incomparable opportunities this woman provided his mental muscle.

Their interplay made him feel like a rising star, instead of a dying comet.

From the smile on Kate's face, Rick judged that she was very pleased with his 'work.' Resuming his spot on the towel next to her, he threaded his fingers behind the base of his neck and leaned back to bask in the glow that both she and the sun where emanating.

Turning over to her belly, she propped herself up on her elbows, and checked to see if she had sand on her hands before switching the phone to her other ear.

"Hi Ryan, what's up?"

With a delighted twinkle in his eyes, Rick motioned for Kate to put him on speaker. Watching her try to 'pull herself together' for a detective-ish conversation was so worth the interruption. Also, he had a question for their friend in New York.

Kevin's voice fought with the sounds of the water lapping, and the game of volleyball nearby. "Oh nothing, I was just calling to make sure you are actually relaxing on vacation."

"Let me get this straight. You are calling to interrupt our beach time to make sure that we aren't interrupting our beach time?"

"Yep. You know after your last trip to the Hamptons, we can't be too careful. I wouldn't want you digging up bodies with less than 24 hours before you need to head back on a plane."

She narrowed her eyes, only Ryan could twist this idea into something sounding like logic. On second thought, maybe this was her writer-man's influence. _'__Will Castle leave my team completely unrecognizable as a crime fighting unit?__' _

"Nope, no bodies. Though I can't say for certain what bad things might befall junior detectives who like to pester their bosses on their vacation time."

"Unlessss," Rick cut in. "You'd be willing to do a little digging into the place that's accommodating us."

Kate rolled her eyes, by this point she knew trying to stop Castle from co-opting her employees was futile.

Kevin asked, "You mean Kai-Rhee's camp?"

"No, her neighbor. An R&D outfit, specializes in futuristic weapons."

Kevin imitated his best Beckett, "Seriously, Castle?"

"I couldn't make this stuff up." He met Kate's glare. Two dozen best sellers refuted that statement incontrovertibly. "Oh, well, I guess I could. But that's not what's happening here."

Kevin gave in easily. Resisting would only prolong his return to sweet slumber. "What do you want me to look for? I have a date with a fluffy pillow and down comforter."

Rick answered, "I'm thinking the financials. See if you can track down the money flowing in or out. Especially if you can figure out what kind of scientists are on the payroll."

"Private defense research? That sounds like a lot of money to track. This isn't gonna be a quick project, is it?"

Kate interrupted, "Ryan, you have my permission to ignore everything Castle just said. We have no evidence of wrong doing. We've just heard about some… _anomalies_."

"Anomalies, huh? Sounds like code for Castle can't keep his eyes focused on Lanie's heartfelt gift with a mystery to unravel. Must be a good one. Are we thinking chemical agents that turn people into zombies, cloned super soldiers, or AI drones?"

Rick tried to answer, "Definitely D…"

"Don't encourage him!" Beckett cut him off. She batted her fiancé on the arm.

"Go back to bed, Ryan. I'll worry about the distractions, you worry about catching up on some of that sleep you've been missing."

"Sure thing."

"Bye."

Before the call disconnected, Kevin heard Castle shout in the background, "Drones, Ryan, Dro…!"

* * *

_**Gratitude for both TeamBromance and TeamCaskett reviewers. I think it's safe to say that Rick has waaaaaaaaay more patience than Javi on any measurable axis. Still, I hope to churn out the rest of the weekend's exploits expeditiously.**_

_**Next up: What does Espo reveal to Evans during pillow talk as his secret weapon of invincibility? What's Ryan's excuse to call Beckett, again? And what kind of plan has Kate formulated to get Rick alone? **_


	10. Chapter 10

"So, Castle, shall we try again?"

"Why, Detective Beckett, are you suggesting we abandon our friendly game of bocce ball?"

"I think your friends have mostly abandoned it themselves." She motioned her eyes toward Bob filling his third plate with buffet, and Delphi making out with his wife against the palm tree.

"I see what you mean. Does this mean you have something in mind?" There was nothing sexier than Ms. Beckett pursuing something she wanted. Castle could barely contain his eyebrows' urge to waggle.

"Yes, but I think privacy is in order. Is there a beach here with slightly less 'camp buddies'?"

"Indeed there is. Right this way." Rick threw the painted wooden ball in his hands directly upwards and let it fall where it may.

He offered his arm to his fiancé, and gave a quick salute to Creedon whose cheeks were filled with barbecue. Bob held up a dripping rib to wish his compatriot the best of luck, but caught a flick to the back of the head from his wife when she noticed her husband's eyes trailing Kate instead of the writer.

\o/

* * *

"Seriously, Castle?"

Kate was sprawled on the rocks of the jetty, her legs oozing over the crags like a mermaid seductress, sea foam rising up and crashing behind her, wet tips of her hair sucked to her neck, reeling in her sailor with eyes that could hook even the most wayward vessel.

Somehow Rick _**still **_managed to find the one distraction that pulled his attention past her, and toward the alcove beyond.

"Over there. Doesn't that look like people to you?"

Kate was too annoyed to entertain the idea of acquiescing to his request.

She fumed. "There are _people_ right here. Some of them mostly naked. Half of them interested in something other than sightseeing."

'_Yes, it was __**my idea**__ to pretend we are old Castle and Beckett this weekend,__' _she admitted_._ Kate had hoped that reverting to younger versions of themselves would allow them to channel who they were when they were so in love, but didn't have stressful wedding plans to make. She reasoned that without the ability to actually make any headway on those plans from their remote locale, it would be much more enjoyable to simply return to the time when they didn't exist. Just a brief respite from Martha's attempts to be 'helpful,' that entailed spraying down a sanctuary in flowers the color of Pepto-Bismol, or creepy representations of their faces made by bulbs in an array of unnaturally occurring hues. That's why she asked Lanie to pick up a few of the responsibilities. She wanted to unhook her anxiety about being the center of attention, and get a _**real**_ vacation.

She had no idea Rick would be taking that suggestion so _literally_. He seemed to be returning to the era when missed connections and unsatisfied desires ruled their days.

Beckett opened her mouth to clarify it for him, but didn't get a word out before Rick spurted, "I don't mean tourist people. I mean washed up on the beach people, like _**dead**_ people."

"What?!" Kate swung around instantly.

The grotto to which Castle pointed stretched too far into the distance to see much of anything clearly. She shaded her eyes and squinted against the sun.

"Get my bag. I've got binoculars."

Rick raced across the shallows to retrieve the bag. He offered it to Kate with an uncertain look. On second thought, he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to know if there were corpses on the island._ 'This isn't New York!'_ They were missing more than home field advantage here. They were missing actual laws. It wouldn't do them much good to complain to the umpire, if they didn't even keep a rulebook on this mound.

Before Beckett brought the lens to her eyes, Castle halted her hands. "Are you sure you want to look? Maybe we should just forget whatever I thought I saw. This isn't Kansas anymore. The Oz behind the curtain might not take kindly to our intrusion. And we won't be able to _un-see_ whatever's happening in Emerald City." Rick motioned to the tall green tower jutting above the tree line.

Kate bit the corner of her lip. _'__He__'__s right. This isn__'__t the Hamptons where we can call in local backup.__' _She looked at the triangular spire, and the cave in the distance, and her lover's hands holding hers._ '__Is there a way to live with not knowing?__' _

"I'm sorry, Castle, I think it's too late. I don't think I can look away now. Let's just hope you're wrong."

Rick gave her a knowing nod. Of course, she had to know. So did he.

Castle busied himself with a theoretical escape route. "I'm wrong a lot, just ask Espo and Ryan." He ticked off the names on his fingers. "…And Hoax, and Fitz, Simon, and the Master Sergeant. The list of people acquainted with my erroneous zones is growing by the day here. Soon they'll need a club just to keep up with membership."

Beckett adjusted the dial to try to focus the image. She was quite accustomed to ignoring the fountain of cray-cray that could pour out of her writer's mouth when an meme-like idea was wagging his dog.

Castle's nervous babble brooked, "Eventually we'll need a con just to satisfy the hoards of people clamoring to tell me how very wrong I am about things." He could tell he was starting to annoy Beckett, but he couldn't help himself. "We'll sell misspelled t-shirts; I'll sign autographs with letters missing from my name; I'll pose with scuff and a lightsaber! People love that sort of thing."

Beckett lowered the binoculars and leveled 'you're-killing-my-patience' eyes into her counterpart. "Hey, Castle. Wanna come back to reality?"

"Sorry. So, see anything?"

She tried again to zero in on the rocky opening past the jetty. "Can't tell. I see something that could be pieces of a boat or raft. But no sign of bodies, living or otherwise…wait."

Castle's eyes widened in concern, "Wait, what?"

"There's something moving. Could be a person, maybe dragging something behind them?"

'_Oh no.' _

Beckett gave up scouting and turned to Castle with controlled urgency, "Let's get back and see if we can get Esposito's cousin to talk to us."

"Why, did'u see something?" Rick was rooting for 'no.'

Her face had already masked itself in that unreadable 'I'm a detective, you can't make me talk' arrangement. The one she used in the box when a suspect went fishing for intel. Rick may as well have been looking at the Mona Lisa, no more information was leaking out of her features, not even for a hunky fiancé.

"Not sure." Kate didn't want to breathe a word of what see _thought_ she saw, until she had some context. Castle couldn't handle the theories that might accompany the image. Her protective reflex went up.

Of course Rick was curious, almost to the point of defiance. His hands instinctively reached for the binoculars. Fortunately, the look of somber concern on Beckett's face was enough to recoil him into a self-preservation instinct, and he obediently followed her lead.

"Okay, then, let's go."

They hurried back up the beach toward camp.

\o/

* * *

In the hour after Evans and Espo danced together, a new calm was born on the windward side of the island.

Kai-Rhee was finally peaceful inside and out. She pressed her forehead into the curve of Javier's neck, and fit her shoulder under his arm.

She'd informed Roc years ago that this was 'her spot.' And claiming it possessively allowed her to reap the benefits of his skin pressed to hers, his vibrance and acceptance seeping into her, without it feeling like a gesture reserved for couples. It was probably the most traditionally 'feminine' arrangement she ever found herself in, but to her, it had nothing to do with charming him.

She knew she could count on Roc, but it wasn't a 'couple thing.' His loyalty was an extreme extension of the fealty he offered a fellow soldier. For both Javier and Kai-Rhee _**that**_ was the purest expression of the human bond, worlds better than the confusing stuff that usually transpired romantically between a man and a woman.

As usual, they were basking in the freedom _**not**_ to speak. He gave her a strong squeeze to press her against him as an expression of his gratitude for all the angst their union had vacuum sucked out of his body. After releasing her, his free hand absently traced light fingertips along her shoulder and upper arm.

But Evans finally had something to say. If only the right words would congregate in her mind.

Kai-Rhee propped herself up on her forearm, so she could look down onto Roc's face. She indulged her left fingers their desire to trace the cleft of the vertical worry lines in between his eyebrows, one short, one J-shaped and long. She adored how much those two little lines could tell her without the need for him to open his mouth. And those weren't even her favorite creases. The twin indents hiding just below his bottom lip were the most delicious bits. She wondered if he'd caught on that her kisses always sought them out first, before fitting properly over his mouth.

"You noticing the years on my face?" His playful tone broke the silence.

"Yes, and no. I think I like it better now."

"Oh, really?" he teased. He felt sure he could take that as an insult, if it provided an opportunity to make her smile.

The first exhale of a laugh preceded her explanation, "I mean, yeah, I think it's safe to say your mug's gotten more handsome since I've seen it last."

She followed up her candor jocundly, "What do you feed yourself up in the concrete jungle to keep that youthful glow?"

Thrilled that she wanted to play, he answered, "Donuts."

She hung her head to release her fit of chortling.

He continued the farce, "It appears you, like so many, don't understand the magical powers conferred by a simple toroidal pastry."

"Toroidal, huh? So, should I try that? Ask Hoax to swap out a few health shakes for glazed breakfast? You know I'd rather have bavarian creams."

He readjusted himself on the bed to get super comfortable in his role as the facetious font of hidden knowledge. With his arms crossed behind his head, his ribs were exposed to her lethal elbows, but it was worth the risk for comedic dividends.

"No. Wouldn't work for you."

'_Damn he can sell a joke.__'_ She tried to squash her smile enough to ride this banter to the punchline. She had a terrible habit of laughing at him before he got the chance to deliver the goods. "I see. And why is that?"

He let the cliché work to his advantage. "Not a cop."

Over the sounds of her chuckling, he continued in his most pedantic and honey-toned voice. "Only officers of the law are transferred the healing benefits of deep-fried batter. Police Academy 101. Tease all you want, that's why you'll still see men in blue lining up for 'em, even when we're scoffed at."

She recovered from her fit enough to ask, "S'that how you've managed to dodge all the bullets working robbery _and_ homicide?"

"Yep, better than Kevlar."

She kissed him affectionately, so grateful that his infectious sense of humor could still play jailbreak with her overly-serious mindset.

"That's very reassuring. If only we'd had that advantage in the desert."

'_Damn.__' _She hadn't meant to bring the ghosts of war into their pillow talk. _'__Occupational hazard.__' _

There was nothing he could say to that. He pulled her back into the crook of his neck for another comforting squeeze.

'_Wish I could wring some of it out of her.__' _The 'it' Espo was referring to was hurt. He knew there was no way to take her pain away completely. But she'd already done so much for him on that front, he wished he could repay the favor. She _**looked**_ a lot happier, but her words still betrayed grim thoughts.

Javi was a little disappointed that the pleasure he'd given her didn't manage to match the mind-wiping bliss _he_ was feeling right now. Esposito had no doubts about his performance. He knew she enjoyed that on a level that seemed to bring her to someplace animalistic, judging by the inhuman sounds she'd made. But who was he kidding? Some hurts go way deeper than one session can heal, no matter how mind-bending the union.

After he realized that he was holding back, Espo readjusted for another go at hugging her. Most women required him to 'keep the safety on' so that he wouldn't accidentally crush them with his unchecked embrace. A 'careful not to break her' setting was where he defaulted. But with Kai-Rhee, he could contract his arms as hard as he could. In his mind, he was sure of it. _'__She__'__d never break.__' _

Evans held on and hoped that the pressure he was applying would only increase. Her ligaments and bones were washing in a chemical bath of tranquility that she didn't even know was possible, but his arms were compressing her invisible parts into something denser. Those endorphins must've been spiked with some sort of I-Roc-Zoom that could shred the very fabric of space and time. Somehow, she felt herself increasing in mass, all her previous identities pressed into each other, like the formation of a diamond, or a star.

Their embrace was interrupted by 'Shave and a Haircut' rapped on her front door.

Evans' tone turned serious, "Uh oh."

"What is it?"

"Trouble, not sure how serious, but I'll need to go address it."

"Why? Who's knocking?"

"Simon. 'Two Bits' means they need me down at base camp."

Before she pushed herself off the warmth of his body, she kissed the expressive creases between his brow.

"Don't worry. Probably just your writer friend complaining about the quality of our coffee, again."

She winked, her mask of unshakeable competence firmly secured, again.

Esposito, following her example, reactivated his armored chest plate to prepare to face the world. If she could do it, after what they'd just shared, than he could to.

While she started dressing, he reached for his trunks, lamenting that he couldn't have her to himself for just a little longer. "Pity they can't live without us."

She snapped the belt of her shorts and grabbed her sunglasses. "Yeahp, damn shame."

\o/

* * *

Adnan and Creedon sent their wives off to bribe the masseuse into starting work early. They wanted to speak privately with Castle. Both women had made it clear that they didn't want to be drawn into the world of speculation that their husbands frequented until there was some action required. Neither of them could afford to derail their lives with needless worry. They had jobs and businesses to run. A long time ago, they'd asked their men to keep their over-informed shenanigans to themselves. To their way of thinking, guesswork like that was best friend territory, not spousal business.

Delphi asked, "What's the worry, friend? You should look a lot happier after a stroll on the beach with a siren like Kate on your arm."

"Undoubtedly, but I'm afraid a tour of the adjoining backyard seems to have upset the mood."

Bob shook his head. "Couldn't let it lie, huh? Ya know, not everything's a mystery novel, Nermal."

Adnan shot his buddy a judging look. "Kettle calling the pot black, is it?"

Castle searched Creedon's eyes for a clue.

Embarrassed, the spy tech revealed, "Well, I _**may**_ have accidentally overheard a few things since our conversation at breakfast."

Delphi rolled his eyes.

"Alright," Bob admitted. "I broke out some gear to help my eavesdropping. But I didn't poke around the neighborhood. Just used localized devices to snoop around camp."

Castle was ready to seize upon any possible lead, he motioned Beckett to join them.

"Hear anything of interest?"

"Most of the chatter came from Fitzy's crew, testing out their new telecom tower. Pretty good signals they've set up, too."

Bob wasn't planning to share more.

Castle's eyes apologized to Beckett for ruining her vacation with a case, and the sour taste of their first dead-ended lead.

Creedon reconsidered. Castle's companion was homicide after all. She should know how to put his piece of half-intel into perspective. Rick was probably least likely to be able to handle it.

"Well, there might be one thing more that caught my ear. Though I can't say it has anything to do with defense research."

Castle pressed, "Yes, go on."

He lowered his voice, "Our gracious Master of Ceremonies had a heated phone conversation earlier..." His eyes swept the trail for signs of the trainer. "...apparently over the transfer of sizable sums of cash from off-shore accounts."

"And you think that has something to do with our neighbors?"

"Can't say, but he said he'd 'jump ship before he'd work in the IZ.'" He met their confused looks with a history lesson. "I took that to mean 'International Zone.' That was the failed political euphemism for the combat-free Green Zone that protected presidential palaces in Central Baghdad. If he meant that the camp would be used to protect foreign interests from the top down, with heavily armed guards, this could possibly indicate an end to the autonomy Kai-Rhee enjoys here. Though I really didn't hear enough to be sure what the big man meant."

Beckett asked, "Did Hoax say why the transfer was necessary? Did something change?"

"Nope. He mentioned 'Kai-Rhee's in the kitchen, cooking with napalm, again.' But that's not code for anything I'm familiar with, more likely references personal history."

Adnan sized up Beckett's interest. He took note of how far back behind her facade she could seat her emotional content file. Her silence was opaque. Only her words betrayed a hint of graver concern. It thrilled him a little to encounter someone he couldn't read like an open book, most people didn't provide him much of a challenge in that regard.

Delphi offered, "I believe the Detective would like you to pull out the bat ears and sound for more _distant_ hints of change in the wind."

Beckett put the brakes on her volunteer operatives. "There's no need for that yet. Perhaps, when I talk to our friend's contact in the Coast Guard, all my questions will be answered. You should enjoy your break before you have to fly home."

Both men groaned. "Uiihh, Don't remind us. Krypton is leisure land compared to the hell that awaits us, I'm afraid."

Creedon cringed as he explained, "They're taking us house hunting. They want a condo on Kauai."

"I know that sounds pleasant." Adnan added, "But I can tell you, comrades, there is no more twisted torture than trying to appease the tastes of our discriminating brides. And they've already settled on the idea that they want a single compound that both couples can share together. They might as well be asking for keys to an inter-dimensional portal. It's a herculean task to meet their _**individual**_ ambitions for perfection, let alone satisfying all four of us on one property." Both husbands shook their heads in dread. "We, my friends, are doomed."

Rick sent one sympathetic hand to the shoulder of each man, "Balboa, Creed, I wish you every bit of luck. May you go down nobly, with a K.O. in the first round, and save everyone the bloodied noses."

"Thanks, Nerm. If they let us lie after the first 10 count, it _**will**_ be a hollywood miracle."

Creedon shook his head at their plight, muttering, "Pity the fool. Pity the fool."

\o/

* * *

Kate brought her phone to her ear. "Beckett."

"You're still answering!" Ryan accused. "You don't sound very distracted, either."

"Different distractions, unfortunately. So what's up?"

"I did some digging for Castle."

"Don't tell me you went surfing the internet for conspiracies about drone armies instead of catching up on your sleep. You know I can't pay you overtime for that."

"Hey, you'll be thanking me when iRobot takes over Captain Gates' job, and you need intel about their weaknesses to save the fate of mankind."

"I'm sure you're right," Kate dismissed. "So, what'd you find out? And please tell me it has something to do with real life financial statements."

"I suppose that's up for interpretation."

Castle danced his index finger again to beg for speaker phone.

Kevin's voice projected, "There isn't a whole lot of non-fiction associated with the entities who own the island. Without a governing body to report to, they aren't required to file taxes, or articles of incorporation, or even use a particular currency to pay for things, including people in their employ. What little I could find is distantly connected through an advisory board that consulted on the build out."

"Anything stand out there?"

"Pretty much everything. The board reads like who's who of the wealthy and well-connected in the world of military defense. Manufacturers, private soldier firms, military officials, researchers, most affiliated with multi-national corporations that held government contracts in Iraq or Afghanistan. It's a bit of a needle in a haystack."

"Hm." Not really the news she was hoping for.

"So, I started with Master Sergeant Evans. Up until a few years ago, her record was very public. I've got articles here about commendations going back 10 years. In one of them there's a photo where she's posing with a host of military big wigs, some of whom overlap with our advisory board."

Castle's eyebrows lifted with the familiar download of a masterfully detailed research exposition, delivered with the flare that only Kevin Ryan could provide. It made him miss the precinct.

"One of them might be a friend of her step-father," Rick supplied. "Ryan, is anyone in that picture on the Joint Chiefs of Staff?"

"Yeah, General Clarence Byrd. Code name 'Big Byrd.' He's got a military record longer than my arm. What should I look for?"

Castle answered, "I would start with overlaps on that advisory board. The boys here seem to think that Kai-Rhee got her lease from a satisfied client, one that was referred by this Byrd."

Ryan's defenses went up, "_**The boys**_, huh?" First, Castle left him behind for island paradise. Then, he lured away the rest of his team during what was supposed to be his bachelor weekend with Espo. And now? He's reallocated their nickname to someone else's bromance?! _'__Phuh, loyalty!__' _

Kate smiled. Watching her writer navigate the iron-clad allegiances of her partners in law enforcement had always been amusing. In real life, a partnership takes up so much space, needs so much respect and maintenance. She mused how it was easier for Rick to write about fictional Detectives Ochoa and Raley, than to earn real life respect from Esposito and Ryan as a bonafide member of their team.

Castle mixed his tone half humility and half mocking, "I'm sorry, Ryan. Are you sensitive about our excursion here? Care to join us? I'm sure Kai-Rhee would be more than happy to re-introduce you, too, to the 'bitter hells of gym class.' You are no doubt aware of her special talent for motivation, especially where underutilized muscle is concerned."

"My muscle is just fine in its current state of utilization, thank you."

'_Oh wait, that didn't sound right.'_

Rick and Kate smirked at each other. Poor Ryan, no fun for the little brother to get left behind.

"Well, if you change your mind, I'll save you a seat in mess hall. I'm sure you'll love the cereal here just as much as I did. I wouldn't want to miss the special pleasure of watching you take your first bite."

Ryan unamused said, "Ha Ha very funny. I suppose you want me to think you are having more fun than I am on your long weekend, but I can't help but notice that Beckett's spent more time on the phone with me, than enjoying the sand and sun. Maybe Krypton's sapping your charms, Castle? Sure you aren't shrinking down to mere mortal status with the increase of pectoral definition? Maybe some tropical roidal effect shrinking mini-Castle's stature?"

"Touché, Detective Ryan. But I can assure you mini-Castle, and the rest of our team here, are standing up just fine in the heat."

'_Oooo, Island Heat, that has best-seller potential.__'_

Now it was Kate's turn to roll her eyes at the expressions in their exchange. "Alright, you two, stand-down." She glanced uncomfortably at Rick's shorts to see if her command might be taken with a second meaning.

"Ryan, you keep digging into what Byrd's associations might have to do with this island. And see if you can find out more about the scientists on the advisory board. Maybe that will give us a clearer idea about what the facilities' intended use might be. And see if you can find out who helped them build it. The creation of a man-made island had to cause a news splash somewhere. Maybe the engineers involved would be willing to talk to us. Bragging about their accomplishment might be all the cover we need to keep our interest from raising flags." Her mind flashed to little Sarah. "But, Ryan, be careful."

"Got it." Kevin didn't even consider going back to sleep. "Oh, and Beckett, better luck next time with Lanie's gift bag."

"Bye, Ryan."

\o/

* * *

After Kate hung up, Castle asked. "Do you think we should bring Kai-Rhee into this inquiry? I'm sure she has a lot of the answers we are trying to dig up."

"Not until after we talk to the Coast Guard. If this all turns out to be the result of over-active imaginations and coincidence, I don't want to be responsible for stirring up trouble between the Master Sergeant and her landlord. Especially, if that puts a cramp in her visit with Espo."

Castle considered the retaliation quotient of cockblocking Esposito, as payback for his part in tricking his soft author-ish ass into signing up for Camp Krypton in the first place. Even though he'd gained an invaluable experience in the end, that didn't mean the prank would escape renumeration. That's not how the game was played.

"And what's this I hear about saving Ryan a seat at breakfast? I thought you were coming home with me tomorrow?"

Ricky's face bent into the look of a man who'd forgotten to bring home his wife's dry cleaning for the umpteenth time. "Yeah, about that..." He broached carefully, "I was kind of thinking that I'd like to try one more week."

Kate shook her head._ '__He can__'__t be serious.__'_ Did she hear that right? Wasn't he the one darting away from the Master Sergeant like a baby bunny who'd seen a mountain lion last night? How could he possibly be willing to serve himself up to her on a platter, again? Maybe it had nothing to do with Kai-Rhee.

"Listen, Castle, if this was brought on by a burning desire to scale the fences, and sneak into a top secret military defense compound, I'm not gonna leave you here to become another missing persons case."

"No, it's not about that." He met her skeptical expression with a half idea that he barely understood himself. "I know it sounds crazy, but…I don't know, ever since I won my name, I've just wanted to try it out some more. I can't explain it, but somehow it felt really different to run Confidence with Esposito under my own title. It possessed me with a strange excitement that doesn't come often in a lifetime. I kinda want to explore the possibilities a little more."

Kate's face screwed up in worry. Anti-climactic reunion sex fail, disturbing suspicions about weapons developers, and now her fiance would rather repeat basic training than return with her to New York. _'__What__'__s the world coming to?__' _She knit her brow in concern that the prevailing paradigm was not where she left it._ '__Maybe I__'__ve stepped through the looking glass? Next thing you know Gates and Lanie will be playing hooky, Perlmutter will be laughing at Ryan__'__s jokes, and Espo will get the girl.__' _

Rick responded to her distressed forehead crease. "Listen, you don't need to worry about me. I came here for you, remember. Now I'm no cardiac specialist, but I think it's safe to assume that whatever improvements I may have made to my muscle tone this week are just the accessories to the fine tailoring that Doc Craney prescribed for me. Surely, it's going to take more than one week of lifestyle changes to get my ticker on a healthier track." He lifted her chin from the dip of defeat to which it had descended. Clearly, his 'I'm doing this for us, not me' rhetoric was working on her.

"Now, I know there's no magic bullet." Her eyebrows furrowed at his bizarre choice in metaphor, but he continued, "It's up to me to implement the things I've learned here when I get back. And I'm gonna do that..." Rick's eyes searched hers for agreement, as he wrapped his hands over both of her shoulders, singing triumphantly, "...And we are gonna plan the most spectacular wedding New York has ever seen."

"Spectacular...?" She looked even more upset by his word choice than his idea to stay.

He backpedaled, "I meant unforgettable."

She tensed her scalp so hard that her ears lifted.

When her expression didn't improve, he tried, "meaningful?"

The damage had been done to Kate's comfort level.

The writer's eyes begged for forgiveness from her unrelenting mistrust of his appetite for nuptial eccentricities. He threw out a meek, last-ditch effort to salvage the moment, "intimate?"

She rolled her eyes at her fiancé in a way that forgave him his 'Castle-ness' like only she could, which is to say, 'Not at all, but I'd like to move on from this farce.'

Rick rubbed her upper arms reassuringly. "Oh, don't worry, I'm not letting you off this island until I've properly thanked you for all the support you've given me here."

He drew her in for a hug, crushing her crinkled brow to his neck. She laid her ear against his chest. Beckett was listening for the heartbeat that Doc Craney examined during Rick's recent EKG, the very thing that brought them into this mess.

Richard was hoping a few more encouraging rubs to the back would bring her 'round. When Kate got worried, he felt the years of his experience instinctively want to soothe her. It was one of the few occasions when he felt like he had something of real value he could offer her from his years of floundering in a life full of 'not taking things seriously' and sizable mistakes. Clearly, his mother was right about their age difference. He'd needed a head start, just so he would be prepared to appreciate her when they finally met.

Katherine was the best thing to happen to him since Alexis. It's true that the younger Rick had an ego that would have double-dog-dared himself to take on Kai-Rhee. However, the Master Sergeant was most certainly correct in her estimation that that infantile version of Castle sans Kate, wouldn't have made it past the first day.

If Richard were forced to write the hypothetical scenario, he would put playboy Ricky Rook on a boat back to Margaritaville within half a day of his arrival. Somewhere between exposure to the Master Sergeant's shredded stump of a middle finger and Simon's intrusive 'readjustment' of his form for inverted sit ups, his younger self would've headed for the hills, commandeering whatever liquor he could from Hoax' not-so-secret sub-level bunker, on his way to hellbent-for-hangover heaven. If he were selling the idea to an editor, he would probably add in a 'curiously handsy monkey' to abduct his clothes after drunken skinny dipping for comedic effect, but only after checking with google for the faintly familiar origins of the phrase, excluding all references to a cartoon named George. _'__It__'__s so hard not to plagiarize, when you consume as much media as I do.__' _

Castle held the woman he loved tightly against his chest. '_Yes, Katherine Beckett has saved me from a life of meaningless, if well-paying, chaff.__'_

Rick whispered to her, "Don't worry. I may be slightly deluded about my physical limitations, but I know I'd be lost without you…always."

* * *

_**Gratitude for EVERYONE encouraging me to keep at this monster. Virtual Fist bumps all around: TCAHT, GM, CD, JJ, FDH, SPF, WN, CA, TP, SG, SB, BK, LA and Welcome TeamBromance! More fun on it's way ASAP. (How did Marlowe survive the fury of impatient Caskett shippers for years? He must be Ironman!) **_

_**Next up: What has the Coast Guard seen on the other side of the island? Who was Ryan's boyhood celebrity sci-fi crush? What will Rick forego for an evening alone with Kate? **_


	11. Chapter 11

New York City was lucky to have the super-heroic quartet of Beckett-Castle-Ryan-Esposito. Their track record for solving homicide cases, especially ones with a bizarre twist, was unrivaled. How they became 4 high-caliber observers was interesting, if sometimes unconscious.

Kevin always had his eye on the scene, instinctually, so he could step up when someone needed help. Coming from a big Irish family, he had to look for opportunities to insert himself, unless he wanted to get lost in the shuffle. He found both options very useful at times.

Kate was born a quiet kid. Instead of talking, she was busy listening intently, and rearranging the puzzle pieces of information she took in, so that she could 'figure it all out.' She leaned on that strength as a means to stay in control whenever the world fell into chaos.

Rick was probably most conscious of his observations, since he used them almost immediately to adapt, and charm, and later to express himself more fully. It was more of a sport than a habit for him. As an author, he took the phrase 'keen observer' as the highest form of compliment.

Javier, however, would never think of himself as something so passive. In his mind, he was a doer. His watcher developed over time with practice, mostly because when he got in too good a mood, like clockwork, somebody was there to jump on his case, as if his happiness switched on a beacon for ridicule. Espo was born with the 'gift' of an expressive heart, but coming up in rough circumstances conditioned him to be wary to show it.

Even before his military and police training, Esposito usually had one eye out for jackholes that needed a beat down. His partners were used to his temperament running hot, but they knew he had full control of his temper when the issue was really annoyance. Betrayal was another story.

\o/

* * *

"So what's with the cloak and danger, guys?"

Esposito was in no mood for Caskett-y antics since he had to half-lie to Kai-Rhee in order to meet them at the dock without letting the Master Sergeant know why.

"We were hoping you could call your cousin, the one in the Coast Guard."

"You dragged me down here, and made me cover to Kai-Rhee, to ask me to ring little Pedro? You've got to be kidding me. Shit, Castle, you should know by now that Valkyrie could bring down the hammer on _**both**_ of us for shady crap like this."

"Believe me I'm just as scared as you are. I've had a whole week of Kai-rage to swallow."

Beckett appealed, "Espo, we wouldn't have asked if we didn't think it was worth the risk."

This satisfied Esposito. Even though his good-ole-no-nonsense Beckett was turning into more of a twitter-pated bride with each passing week, she still had the voice of reason and authority leading her actions. He tamped down his irritation.

"So, what's up?"

Kate led. Castle would only muddy the trust she'd momentarily reestablished with her co-worker with his outlandish theorizing. "We want to ask your cousin about what he's seen on the other side of the island."

"Why?"

"We may have stumbled across something… disturbing."

"Disturbing, how? Cause I can guarantee you don't know the full meaning of the word, until you've seen a Valkyrie death shower."

Kate considered whether telling Espo what she saw, in order to get his buy in, was worth setting a torch to Castle's relatively calm state of mind. "I'd be much more comfortable talking about it _**after**_ speaking to Peddie. There's a very real possibility that anything we _thought_ we saw has a perfectly valid explanation. But I won't be able to rest until I figure out what that is."

Esposito sighed. _'__Of course. Go on vacation with Beckett, get hooked into a murderous plot. What was I expecting?__' _

"Alright, I'll call him. But I'm not covering for you two. You explain it to our hosts, or the deal is off."

Kate parried, "I don't want to raise Kai-Rhee's suspicions unless absolutely necessary. I'd prefer to get an objective viewpoint first."

Castle gulped. "Well, it might be a little late for that. Here comes Sergeant Fury now."

Esposito's butt cheeks clenched in fear. _'__Dammit, Castle, if you shut down what I just opened up between she and I, I__'__m gonna break you over your goddamn pretentious writing desk. No amount of Ferrari bribery will get you outta this one, __**bro**__.__'_

\o/

* * *

As the Master Sergeant approached, Javier feigned the end of a conversation with his co-workers. "So, here is exactly where Ensign Esposito dropped me yesterday afternoon."

_'Damn this is a lame explanation for why I needed to meet with Castle and Beckett at the docks. Please, miracle, distract, distract.'_

Castle answered silent Espo's plea."Do you think we could meet your cousin? I'd love to include a Coastie in my next novel. It'd be a real treat to see his patrol, too."

Beckett appraised the play's reception with their host thinking, _'__Thank goodness the Master Sergeant has no idea how many times Rick has used this same line to get out of trouble in the past.__' _

As Kai-Rhee stood toe-to-toe with Esposito and Castle, both suffered with the uncomfortable faces of men trying to hide something from a woman with X-ray vision.

Castle broke first, plaintively to his Master. "What? I thought writing was allowed during the weekend! Fitz told me he's packed in a month's worth of productivity over the past three breaks."

Kai-Rhee shifted her scalding eyes between Rick and Roc. _'Pfuh, Amateurs. Good thing Esposito never had to infiltrate a clandestine cell. He's got tells on every feature.'_

"You're right, Nermal. Write your heart out. Maybe Roc here can help give you some background on the _**family ties**_ that form between members of the service, even if they don't make it into the same branch."

Ugh. That stung. She obviously hadn't bought a word of that schwill they were peddling. She managed to call Javi out on the fact that she outscored him on his Special Forces qual, even if they still couldn't accept her, _**and**_ his inability to persuade his cousin that Army was superior to Coast Guard. Javier was screwed.

Kate attempted a rescue. "Listen, it was really my idea to meet with Pedro." She didn't need to fake a guilty face to Kai-Rhee. "I'm a big fan of boats _**and**_ law enforcement. Ever since my dad and I needed a rescue off of Cape Cod when I was a little girl, I've always wanted to check out a patrol boat up close. It was my idea to hook Esposito into this ruse. I just didn't want to disturb your weekend by bringing in offshore security concerns. I'm sure that's not the kind of excitement you'd like on your time off."

The Master Sergeant was willing to stand down if Detective Beckett was willing to back up these two prevaricators. Obviously, all three were avoiding the truthful explanation, but if Kate was in on it, whatever deception they harbored might be attributed to something embarrassing rather than disrespectful. Kai-Rhee was willing to let it go for now. She would have been very disappointed if she had been forced to put Roc 'on restriction.'

"I see. Roc, you better give him a call. As long as he doesn't step foot off his vessel, I see no reason to believe we'll start an international incident."

She turned to her old friend with a more-than-superficial tone, "Can I trust you to keep that boundary?"

Esposito searched her eyes for the connection they had interrupted only a few moments before. "Of course, you can trust me."

"Good. I need to check out the crow's nest. I just hope Fitzy hasn't created some all-seeing eye that I won't be able to shut down come tomorrow night. We take privacy very seriously here."

Kate appreciated how Kai-Rhee was able to communicate about six levels of meaning to effect each of her audience members differently, all in the economy of a few sentences. Kate had only heard her mom, in the courtroom, choose words so carefully for intended effect. _'This woman is every bit the intimidator the boys made her out to be.'_

She sure hoped that what she observed on the beach turned out to be a huge misunderstanding.

\o/

* * *

"So you're saying that **'****lasers****'** most likely caused what we saw on the other side of the island?" Kate almost couldn't form her mouth around the word. The truth was more fanciful than what she feared her writer-boy would invent with his overactive daydreams.

Castle's eyes were flashing like neon vacancy signs. "Yes! You heard the coxswain. LASERS! As in, testing out the ray guns of my boyhood fantasies just a stone's throw away! Oh my goodness. The Sergeant should charge _**more **_for this little added attraction." He fidgeted with synaptic overload joy. "My poker buddies are gonna eat this up. I'm definitely staying another week!"

Kate hung her head in something like 'Oh-God-I'm-gonna-_marry_-this-manchild.'

Esposito pressed on with the line of questioning. He didn't want to leave any grey areas undefined that might invite the dynamic duo here into a world of trouble for Kai-Rhee.

"So, what do you think the forms on the beach were? The ones that looked like bodies?"

"Probably targets. We've observed a number of testing exercises involving the obliteration of dummy soldiers and vehicles. We've _even_ seen them blow up a **tank** at one point!" Peddie engaged Castle with his mutual excitement. "It was awesome!"

After a moment of wide-eyed elation exchanged between the young ensign and the writer, both men wiped their faces of happiness. No one could have enjoyed themselves under the twin death stares that Esposito and Beckett were shooting into their skulls.

"Where is the tank now?" Kate questioned, after a second warning look to her fiancé. She had seen no trace of it on the shore, and imagined that a giant crane would be needed to haul off a disabled vehicle of that magnitude.

Peddie's excitement revved again, "They sliced it up into foot long pieces WITH THEIR LASERS!"

Immediately, Rick broke ranks to high five Peddie. He was acting on instinct. _'This might be better than zombies!'_

\o/

* * *

Before the New York trio rejoined the other campers for the 10 course meal that Hoax had arranged for Saturday's evening meal, Kate felt the need to check in with both men.

"So, we are just gonna go back to enjoying vacation, right? No conspiracy theories. No secret plots. No matter how futuristic the weapons, we didn't see anything illegal." She searched for acknowledgment in both Esposito's and Castle's eyes.

Espo fired back, "Hey, I was enjoying myself just fine, until you two clowns roped me into your world of crazy." He noticed Evans on the other side of the hall talking to Simon. "Next time you want to invent some reason NOT to get busy, leave me out of it. Alright? I've got _real_ chemistry to tend to."

As Javier crossed over the threshold, Kate waited for Rick's accession.

Castle threw up his hands. "You'll get no argument from me. I'm about the happiest man alive. I've got space age spectral vaporizers, brand new muscles where I didn't even know I needed them, and the hottest fiance of all time. Now that there are no killers to chase, I'm gonna make the most of every moment of that."

"That's what I like to hear." Kate drew her lover into an embrace that begged for his bedroom eyes. She was eager to salvage what was left of their weekend, especially if Castle was serious about staying here until next Friday. "So, how hungry are you, exactly? Maybe we don't need to stay for all ten courses."

Castle's eyes were all too happy to comply with a change in plans. The woman in his arms was the most beautiful he'd ever seen. Mostly, this was due to who she was on the inside, but, oh, how he loved to gaze at her soul's lovely encasing. Suddenly, the urge to possessively keep her all to himself seemed much more appealing than foie gras. He offered, "I know where Hoax stashes the bananas. That's enough for me."

At Kate's nod, Castle dashed off toward the kitchen's backdoor, veritably dragging his lover at his heels.

\o/

* * *

Ryan rubbed his red, blood-shot eyes. Why was he still staring that a list of Photonics Spectra award winners? _'__Oh right, because Castle just texted me a lead on weapons with laser beams! Fricken Laser Beams!__'_

While it was true that the message was preceded with something about the lack of murderous evidence, that seemed trivial compared to the search for evidence of a real life Buck Rogers XZ-38 Disintegrator Pistol. '_Oh damn all justice that __**this**__ is the mystery that leaves me on the sidelines!__'_

Unfortunately, Kevin succumbed to sleep hunched over his desk before he could make it to the bed. He had convinced himself that dreams of the 25th century's Colonel Wilma Deering would be worth him closing his eyes momentarily. The low-cut V of her flight suit had always been alluring, but Ryan told himself that he was more interested in seeing her blast intergalactic evil-doers out of the expanse of space.

As Kev's luck would have it, his only co-star in dreamland was a short comical robot named Twiki.

"Beady Beady, what's up, Buck?"

"Umm, I'm Kevin. What's up with you?"

"Beady Beady Beady, I'm your drone."

"My drone, huh? Well, do you happen to know where Wilma is? I've gotta ask her some very important questions about the laser cannons on her star fighter."

"Beady Beady, nope. This dream is T rated."

"What's that supposed to mean? Are ray guns explicit in the future?" Ryan let his dreamtime imagination conjure up phasers that evaporate only clothes, leaving their victims to run off in glittery silver underwear. He imagined all the fun he and Espo could affect in the precinct before anyone figured out that a futuristic weapon was the root of the rampant indecency throughout the station.

"Beady, nope, Beady Beady. You've got more important things to do than blast off Wilma's clothes." The cute little robot turned and waddled off, leaving Ryan all alone.

After a moment of admiring the landscape, the detective began to wonder if he were on some future earth, or if maybe he was observing a holodeck projection of earth, but he was actually inside a space station. He couldn't decide which answer he would be more contented with.

However, soon Kevin began to feel a little queasy.

"What's that smell?" Dream Ryan asked himself 'aloud.'

A half-man, half-hawk looking creature appeared walking on two legs to hand him a screaming hawk-humanoid baby. Before the adult version turned to fly off into the sky, he turned to Ryan to squawk, "Soiled!"

Ryan woke up with a start, the sensation of needy baby hawk claws scratching at his wrists as he tried to change the wretched thing's diaper was the single creepiest thing he'd ever 'felt.'

He cursed Esposito for bringing him to his fate. If his partner wasn't off on a luau with the world's fiercest She-ra, they'd be playing their Madden rematch right now. Ryan would be working on beer number three, while Espo would be working on drunken text to Lanie number four. Neither of them would admit that the other had won fairly, so the night would continue into the wee hours with continual escalations of best outta 3, then 5, then 9. Invariably, Esposito would up the ante unevenly because 7 was Ryan's lucky number.

Even though Espo started every evening avoiding sitting on the red sofa, after losing his first round of Madden and a few beers, he'd relent for the better screen viewing angle. Eventually, one of them would pass out on that very special roadkill couch, that Kevin had poached from the corner of 54th and Lex. This would set into motion a very specific protocol.

First, the awake partner would be obligated to take the half-drunk beer out of the sleeping partner's hand, to protect the couch. Secondly, he would scribble something embarrassing on the slumbering man's forehead. Thirdly, he'd take a photo of his artwork, highlighting the creative potential of the occasion. Lastly, the gem of retribution would be held safely inside the partner's cell phone until such time that a trump card needed playing. Neither partner was at liberty to share the photos for purposes other than veto power or to save face in a potentially _**more**_ embarrassing incident. Furthermore, once the photo was 'played,' it was void, and required immediate deletion.

_'Esposito **should** be here now, reenacting this time honored drama.'_

That was the right order of the Universe.

Whatever his partners would take away from their tropical-island-death-blaster tryst, Ryan was sure it would mean nothing but trouble for him personally. He'd consumed enough sci-fi to know that upsetting the natural flow of the universal order came with consequences.

* * *

_**If you are reading this, you rock. Nuff said. Bro hugs to everyone coming along for this hiatus adventure. **_

_**Next up: What are Tory and Lanie busy tossing? What kind of trouble can full body massages on 'Spa Day' stir up on the island? And what's that sound…tick, tick, tick?**_


	12. Chapter 12

"Good morning, sunshine." Lanie offered Tory the pastry and coffee she'd picked up on her way to the younger woman's apartment.

"Thanks, come on in. You'll find I've done more harm than good in here."

Lanie stepped over stacks of books and shoeboxes as she crossed into Ellis' living area. It was the first time she had seen Tory's place in daylight. Their friendship had blossomed mostly over girl's nights out. The young tech officer was no replacement for Beckett, but solidarity with another single sister did have its benefits. Plus, Ellis' sly humor and penchant for bringing out the medical examiner's wilder side distracted them both from the age difference.

"I see. So what are you going for here? Is this stuff on its way out?" Parrish panned her eyes around the space to try to understand what had already been moved.

"Uh, well, what I'm going for is a little more usability underpinning my affinity for groovy ambiance." She rolled up her red shag hallway runner and threw it in the corner.

"Mmm-hmm."

"I really appreciate you coming over to help. Making a tiny apartment functional isn't really my forte." Ellis kicked the tangle of beaded curtains on the floor out of her path. "Though I obviously have ideas about what makes it fun on a Friday night."

Lanie brushed it off. "Oh, don't mention it. You are giving me the guilt-free excuse for bowing out of a rather unpleasant round of canasta with my great aunts. After the row they caused this morning after church, I have no doubt that this afternoon's game of 'you-don't-remember-what-happened-the-way-I-remember-what-happened' will be one for the record books."

Tory smiled. "Why didn't you just stay home?"

"When Beckett took off for the weekend, she took my excuse for skipping the game with her. I thought I would be playing referee all afternoon for sure. You wouldn't believe the fist fights that two women in their 80's can pull off, when the name of their high school beau is raised. You'd think one had stolen a kiss from the boy just last night for all the vim and vigor they fight with. Sixty some years later they still slug it out like their date to the prom depends on it."

"Did either of them end up with the guy?"

"Nope. And he's been dead for twenty years, so I think the chances now are slim. I made the regrettable choice of bringing up that inconvenient fact several years ago, but I won't be making that mistake again."

Ellis voice strained under the weight of a box she was lowering off of the bookshelf, "Why's that?"

"They put castor oil in my soup that night."

Tory's burst of laughter spilled the contents of the box onto the floor. Scratched jewel cases of classic CD's made the unfortunate noises that accompany destruction of pre-MP3 technology.

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. Here, lemme help."

"Oh, I'd sacrifice a copy of the Shaft Soundtrack for a good laugh anytime." She tossed the remains into the trash. "I've got it loaded into my iPod, anyway."

Parrish gathered a few cases to return to their box. "Oh, now, look at this! _Cold Heat, Deep Funk Rarities?_" Lanie scanned down the compilation for familiar titles. "Girl, you really were born in the wrong decade."

"You want me to play it for you? I've got that one in my phone's playlist." Tory hopped up and started tapping on her cell phone and speakers, excited for any opportunity to listen to her favorite genre. "Ooo, this one's a little rowdy for morning music, but maybe it'll get me kicked into decluttering high gear."

A saucy southern soul rhythm chugged '_Don__'__t Go__' _by Aristocrats Organization into the room. Tory floated from corner to corner dropping items into the box marked 'Sayonara' by the door.

The ME sat down on the couch and tucked her feet under her bottom, so that she wouldn't be in the way. She knew how hard it was to let go of personal effects that had once seemed so essential. Lanie only wanted to encourage the whirlwind of a woman on a mission to let go of things that no longer served her.

Parrish had heard her mom play the song they were listening to when she was a little girl, but she'd never noticed the lyrics, only the danceability of the brisk tempo. The singer interrupted the brassy musical romp to belt an age-old admonishment:

_**You know girls**_

_**It**__**'**__**s funny how you can mess up a good thing**_

_**And don**__**'**__**t realize **_

_**Until its gone to someone else **_

_**And there you are**_

_**Left all alone **_

_**With no one to hold **_

_**No one to soothe your weary soul**_

_**But you see baby**_

_**Ooo baby**_

_**I love you so**_

_**I love you so**_

_**Now horns take me**__**…**_

"Earth to Lanie. Can you give me a hand with this? …I think this chest would work better at the foot of my bed. It's kind of a poor excuse for a coffee table. Don't you think?"

"Uh, sure." She hopped up and grabbed the other end.

They jiggled themselves down the hallway, heavy chest balanced between them, toward Ellis' bedroom. Tory tried to engage Lanie, guessing that her spacey expression was due to boredom. "So, any texts from Esposito, lately?"

Lanie tensed a little. _'__I really have to stop running my mouth on margarita night.__' _

"No, Miss Trouble-maker. And I don't expect any. He's on vacation this weekend, anyway."

She teased, "And he didn't take you? How thoughtless."

Parrish was ready to erect her brave front again. "He's not ready to see my bikini body, anyhow. I wouldn't want to have do CPR on the poor man after he got an eyeful of the white stringy two-piece I picked up while shopping for Beckett the other day."

"You're so kind to protect him like that."

"A saint really."

Tory took the hint and didn't mention Lanie's love life for the rest of her visit. If her new friend was kind enough to help her slog through the dust bunnies associated with creating a better feng shui in her life, the least Ellis could do was let sleeping dogs lie where Parrish's sore spots were concerned.

\o/

* * *

Kate turned her head sideways to view Rick on the table next to her. She knew that getting tandem massage treatments was something that couples with means often did. However, she still wasn't sold on the idea.

'_Although, that feels so good!__' _The masseuse that was working on her calves had more than talent, and her low back remained very grateful for the attention it had just received. Stilettos weren't exactly easy on her posture, even though she'd never trade them for their men-bossing advantages.

Four inches of extra height had become part of Beckett's uniform at work. She'd sooner leave home her badge and gun, before showing up for duty without elevation. It worked better than the other two accessories at gaining access to useful intel anyway.

Castle yelped in high-pitched anguish, "Uh aih!" Half of his body darted upward from the table.

"What's a matter, Rick? Man of Steel got a soft underbelly?"

"My improvements in physique came not without a price, Detective Beckett." He cautiously realigned himself to lay down again.

He curled his elbow up by his ear to show Kate the rope burn scabbing over the underside of his arm.

She winced at the red-yellow-purplish bruises.

Beckett wanted to ask if the pain had been worth it, if their spectacular bedroom celebration the previous night had made his sacrifice an even trade. But she bit her tongue, unwilling to share that kind of comment in front of strangers.

Instead she let her eyes linger over her newly bulked fiancé. Rick certainly looked more like a hotrod now than a jittery over-caffeinated jalopy. Not that he'd ever been difficult to look at, but a life of writing and imagination acrobatics usually led one away from results like the ones he'd recently gained. With the palm oil coating his body, the sheen of light reflecting through the tent made him glow with youthful vigor. Castle's biceps looked like slick baby seals cradled in his arms. She half expected them to wriggle on their own, when the attendant signaled him to turn over.

But it wasn't the arms that pulled her attention as he flipped to present his face to the ceiling. It was the abs. Hard beads of differentiated muscle curled down his abdomen, like the exoskeletal segments of a scorpion's tail unfurling before her. Saturday night, when she'd finally succumbed to reclining on his cot, those beaded strands of power completed the image she'd come to the island in search of. And watching the whole network of muscle groups work it's magic had been half the fun of the evening, supercharging every sensation inside her.

She had expected some improvements would be a natural side effect of increased cardiovascular health, but nothing like the arsenal he was packing now. _'Castle is always full of surprises.'_

\o/

* * *

In the cabana next door, Esposito had his feet in an herbal soak, waiting for Kai-Rhee to finish her turn on the table. Noting the detective's unease with someone giving so much attention to his toes, the attendant tried to make him more comfortable with small talk.

When her charms drew out Espo's reflexive flirtation with beautiful women, the masseuse thought it would be funny to tickle the cop's feet.

In response, Javier thought it would be funny to splash a little of the bath water at the young woman.

In response, Kai-Rhee, on the other side of the curtain, thought it would be funny to reach over to turn the water temp up to scalding.

Roc had to yank his feet out of the tub and dance around the wood planks of the floor blowing on his burned foot pads. He tried to assure the girl that it wasn't her fault, that she was doing just fine, that he was looking forward to the full body massage to follow.

But she ran off in embarrassment.

Finally, Javi put it together from Kai-Rhee's laughter that maybe the sudden change in temperature wasn't an accident.

Kai-Rhee peeked through the shade to meet Javi's glare. "Aww, you outta luck again, solider? You certainly have an effect on women." The Master Sergeant mentioned the female gender as if she wasn't included in the group.

"Why, you jealous?"

It had never occurred to Evans to be jealous, but she _**was**_ strangely riled by hearing him smooth talk a civilian woman. It seemed like he was speaking a foreign language, one that sounded curiously exotic and offensively false at the same time.

Even if he wasn't saying anything worth listening to, it was the timbre of his voice floating through his smile that caught her attention. She reprimanded herself for whatever possessive reaction she had. Being upset that he talked to other women on _'__her time__' _made it sound like she had ordered Javier from an escort service catalogue.

Evans decided to pay her penance by offering to rub his back herself. She ignored Roc's question and slapped the padded table to indicate he could still get a turn.

"Hop up."

Esposito was more than happy for Kai-Rhee to sub in. The masseuse appeared to be skilled at her job, but there was no way her puny arms could generate enough power to get through the tension in his shoulders. Kai-Rhee might actually be able to bore through the tough stuff.

She introduced her hands to his neck until he relaxed under her attention. Then she began to squeeze out the real knots with elbows into the small muscles hidden under the wings of his shoulder blades.

"Ughhhhh. that feels…" He continued the thought in his mind, _'…__.indescribably good/painful.__' _

Her pinpointed leaden pressure had him squirming alternately in pleasure and must-do-anything-to-escape pain.

After enjoying her fill of Espo-torture, she decided to be nicer to him. She sprang onto the table and stepped onto his back. The little cracks of releasing pressure in his thoracic spine elicited groans of gratitude.

"Oh, you keep that up and I'm never leavin,'" he mouthed into the face pads. Espo kept his head to one side, even though the table had an extension that allowed the client to look at the floor.

Her toes kneaded the interstices of connective tissue, while her heels plied the fast twitch muscle fibers that sheathed his back.

"Ughhh. You missed your calling. If you ever get bored of stomping on billionaires, you come see me. I could find you use for those feet all day long."

She stopped walking along his spine, trying to figure out if he'd meant more than joking.

"Oh no, don't stop."

She'd stopped breathing, but she didn't know why.

"Imma need an encore." He sang his demand as both a plead and compliment.

When she didn't resume, his eyes searched for hers without attempting to escape his pin down to the table.

"Please?"

Kai-Rhee grabbed hold of herself and resumed her procession up and down his back, re-threading her toes into the soft spaces between each vertebrae. When she'd made jello of the knots in his shoulders and proceeded back down his torso, it occurred to her that there might be nothing under the white towel around his waist.

Sadly, the temptation proved too much.

She hooked one toe under the hem and flicked back the terry to reveal a beautiful example of something that needed her massage skills. She spun and dropped to straddle his legs.

Two hands full of Roc bottom proved much more pleasurable than she would have imagined.

When they were 'little' they'd been playful and explorative, but neither of them had the patience for anything resembling extended foreplay. 'Taking care of each other' meant something wholly unrelated to therapeutic endeavors, referring instead to activities that included one partner's mouth quite silent and the other's screaming in pleasure.

An older, and she hoped, more patient Kai-Rhee decided that an actual massage was in order. She set to reenacting the needling movements that she'd been the recipient of every Sunday morning since Hoax started the tradition of a weekly Spa Day. Both the male and female technicians he hired were a skilled subset of the mainland. Her thoughts wandered back to the patterns they had used to release all the tension in her glutes and hamstrings. Their magic had put her back together for another week more times than she could count. She tried to re-create what she could remember on Esposito, and waited for something that would sound the alarm of effectiveness.

"Gahhh…rrrr."

"Oh, did I find a good spot?"

"Uh, sure, you could call it good…uh, I call it essential. I have to sit down on that later. I'd prefer…" Espo squeaked in discomfort. "I'd prefer to be able to do that without wincing. Gah, gah!"

"Man, you _have_ gotten soft at your desk job, huh?"

He cobra'ed his upper back and neck around to glimpse her over his shoulder.

"Do you feel anything 'soft' down there?"

She took that as an invitation.

"Nope nothing soft."

The sound of Beckett's unrelated, but well-timed, giggle escaped from the cabana next door.

"Sounds like you aren't the only detective here enjoying Spa Day."

"It's about damn time," Espo spat.

"So, does that mean you are a 'Caz-kett ship-her'? Kai-Rhee pronounced the phrase that Fitz had taught her earlier with too much awkwardness to make the punchline effective.

Esposito stacked his fists under his chin to support his head. "Uh, no, well, yes, hell, I don't know about all that." He huffed in frustration. "I'm happy they're finally doing something about it. You could cut the air in my workplace with a butter knife during the four years they danced around that issue. I'd be happy if she was screwing Kermit the frog after that long a build up."

Espo heard his words land unevenly in the room. Well, how could he be expected to speak coherently with her hands working into his ass cheeks like that? Javi and chit chat never got along terribly well, but a conversation with her hands 'at work' was rigged against whatever skills he had.

"Sounds like you're protective of her. Does that mean you've shared time?"

After the question left Kai-Rhee's lips she hoped that he would apply his answer to their platonic relationship, and not the one she'd originally intended.

"Is there any beautiful woman that can resist me?" She could hear the libidinous smile his words had to shimmy past in order to escape.

'_Oh thank God he didn__'__t really commit to an answer.__' _

She shifted the whole conversation to safer ground. "You said earlier that you really love your team. Does that 'team' include Castle?"

"Yeah, it does now. Took him years to prove it. But he really does make Beckett better at what she does, and that's saying something."

"Sounds like you respect her."

"Beckett's as good as catching killers as you are at saving the day. It's a talent."

"Saving the day, huh? Is that what I do? …How bout now? Was your ass in need of saving?" Her slap to his right cheek made a louder sound than she anticipated. She laughed at Javier's yelp and sudden start.

Evans turned suddenly contemplative after her laughter settled. "…I dunno maybe I'm the reason folks get into trouble in the first place. Seems only fair I bail 'em out." She climbed up over his body and draped herself along his back.

Evans squeezed Espo's shoulders and kissed his right deltoid before her phone began to buzz with notifications. Even though her body was loathe to pull itself away from his, her mind welcomed the clear path of purpose that her work responsibilities called her to. She wasn't used to so many feelings. She felt a little seasick from a whole weekend of pushing herself to open up.

The Master Sergeant crossed to the chair that her shorts were hooked on, and dug her cell out of the pocket.

He watched her face contort unpleasantly.

"Pssshh, somebody turns on the tower and suddenly nobody wants to give their commanding officer the pleasure of their direct report." _'Exactly what I was afraid of.'_ She turned to Espo, "Ugh, cell phones! This is why these boys have such a hard time manning up. They rarely practice looking their superiors in the eye. How are they supposed to build character without witnesses?"

Javier caught her hand as she started to walk toward the flap of the tent. "Maybe they _**were**_ trying to be respectful. Maybe they thought you'd be '_busy_.' And didn't want to disturb."

That thought was even more troubling, though unlikely. "Yeah, I'm not sure Kreuger or Fitz have that kind of social grace in their skill pack, yet. But it's a nice idea."

"What'd they want?" Javi wasn't ready to let her go back to work. Though he didn't have any substantive reason to keep her at arm's reach.

"They're re-upping, again. They know I've gotta place my Tuesday night supply req's this afternoon. Gotta get a head count."

"How many this week?"

"Dunno. I usually trek around camp to check in. But Kreuger's always first to lemme know."

Javier tried to place the face. "That's the skinny one with the bangs in his face?"

"Yep. He was a mess when he got here, but now he's my longest running client. I'm not sure if he _**ever**_ plans on leaving. I gotta keep coming up with new ways to challenge him on the scavenger hunts. He's learned so much of the island already."

"He doesn't seem the basic training type." Javier tried to imagine feeling as sullen as the kid looked when running Kai-Rhee's challenges. Didn't seem possible.

"Between you and me, he's not here for the physical training, though it's a good distraction for him. This is his detox program."

"Detox? From what?"

"Well, truthfully, probably from his family. I get an email every other day from his father or his father's personal assistant. They are not pleasant people."

Javier shifted to roll onto his side, curious about what kind of person got under Kai-Rhee's skin.

She continued, "Apparently, his father gave the ultimatum of coming here or taking him to jail after he dropped out of rehab for the second time."

Javier tried to consider the outcomes of all three alternatives objectively. Jail, Rehab or Krypton? All had their own flavor of torture.

"Looks like he's found the best option, I guess." Espo couldn't really fathom what a father was supposed to do or feel in a situation like that.

"It was!" Kai-Rhee let a little of her anger flare, "Not that the bastard would have known that. He hasn't seen the boy in a year and a half. He's been in New York working, while his wife and son have been in California dealing with NA and Al-anon."

Javier thought about his mother during the months he was on the other side of the world, and then during the months afterwards when she dragged him into the VA for treatment. A year and a half didn't seem like a reasonable timeline if your family was in trouble.

He asked, "What's he do? Work for the president?" He was trying to think of an example that would be worth the sacrifice, but couldn't really think of any. There was no war in New York.

Her words stung with dark disapproval. "Stock Exchange. What else?"

\o/

* * *

"Knock, Knock..." Castle sang through the screen door to Creedon's cabin before stepping near. Actual knocking didn't provide half the privacy required for a socially acceptable approach.

"Hey there, Cast…I mean, Nermal. You shovin' off soon?"

"Actually, I'm thinking of re-enlisting. Can you believe it?"

Bob shook his head playfully. "No. That drop must've shook something loose in the ole brain pan, huh?"

Kate chimed in, "I believe it was already loose when he arrived. But it just might have fallen out all together with the stunts you fellas attempted last week."

Castle, undeterred, carried on with the purpose of his visit. "I just wanted to catch you before you returned to the mainland. It really won't be the same without you."

"Aww, become a fan of the reigning heavyweight champions of the world?" Creed threw a jab at Castle's ribs in jest.

Rick smirked as he curled his obliques to dodge the play punch. Actually he _**had**_ gotten quite attached to his fellow cohorts, especially the two closest to his age. It felt like Camp Chipahawk all over again. _'Why does saying goodbye to fellow campers make everybody so emotional?'_

Adnan hopped out of the adjoining cabin. "Did I hear right? The wordsmith is _**staying**_?" He bounded down the steps to join up with the trio. Slapping his hands together in elation, he exclaimed, "Oh whatta week we're gonna have!"

Rick and Kate exchanged confused glances.

"Kai-Rhee just came by. She convinced our wives that our health would be best served if we stayed on longer. And further, that they would make a much better decision on beachfront real estate **without** us there." The handsome Greek high-fived Creedon and then Rick, letting his sparkling smile turn to excitement. "Woo!"

Castle commented on the tactic. "Excellent sales pitch. Put the client in your debt."

Bob did the math. "I think that makes a full set then. Wonder if we'll get any new recruits come Monday?"

Adnan popped his eyebrows.

"Ooo. I hadn't considered the promotion involved." Castle's face brightened mischievously. "Perhaps fresh meat to pay forward the ritualistic hazing?" The idea only felt guilt-free in context because Kai-Rhee's price tags were so high. Now that the brunt of freshman torture was behind him, Rick agreed with Hoax on this point. '_Rich folk need their feathers ruffled to keep __'__em honest.__' _

After Kate shook hands with their new friends, Rick prepared to walk her down to the dock, but Creedon grabbed the author's arm, whispering, "Come by later if you wanna check out some of the toys I brought."

Castle's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. _'Play with high tech spy gear in the company of someone who knows how to use it for its full effect?'_ "Yes, sir, Mr. Creed."

Beckett gave Castle the scowl of warning.

"What? When The Count of Monte Fisto asks you to come check out his top-secret super special spy kit. You don't say '_**no**_.' Do you?"

"Just make sure you don't pick up anything you can't _'_un-hear.' A week is a long time to theorize before I'll be able to insert the voice of reason, again."

"Fine. If I 'accidentally' hear anything. I'll ask Creed to 'flashy' my eyes with an MIB special." He turned to Bob. "You've got one of those short-term memory eraser gizmo's, right?"

"Standard issue, friend."

He turned to Beckett. "See, nothing to worry about."

"Why do I find that phrase, coming out of your mouth, one of the least reassuring things I can imagine?"

\o/

* * *

Richard Castle's feet felt screwed into the end of the dock as he watched Beckett's boat drift further and further away. The long goodbye kiss she favored him with still lingered on his tongue, and lips, and cheek. The path of her long fingers threading through the hair at the back of his neck had sent a ring of fire around his somatosensory system, the embers of which still burned in his hip girdle and down both legs.

Likewise, his own fingertips still tingled with haptic perception of her hair, the cloth covered buttons down the back of her shirt, and the curve of her lower back._ '__How can she be gone already, when my hands can still __**feel **__her in their grasp?__' _

The desire to be with her, to stay by her side wherever she went, resurged anew.

The identical desire had woken up with him daily for years. Since meeting her, every morning he'd open his eyes, wait for them to bring an object into focus, wiggle his toes, and then _Bam!_ the desire to be with her. When it became as reliable as his early morning yen for caffeine, he knew. He knew she needed pursuing.

It didn't even bother him that Beckett acted like she loathed his presence for the first year. The fact that_** he**_ was so consistently interested in the same woman was the more thrilling factor. It felt so encouraging. He liked himself more because of it. The daily waking ritual set his day for something real.

On a scale of Alexis to Meredith, his unwavering desire for Beckett made him feel almost as sane as his uber-practical baby girl, and less like his uber-crazypants ex-wife. Anything that put him in the same category as his daughter, made Richard Castle feel prouder of himself.

As Rick watched the boat collapse into a tiny dot on the horizon, his thoughts linked one to the other, drawing him northward.

_Kate._

_Alexis._

_New York._

_A Real Bed._

_Real Blessed Coffee._

_With foam. Oh mercy, whipped foam._

'_Why, exactly, had I thought it was a good idea to stay?__' _

**KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! **

Castle spun around to see flaming debris skyrocketing over the pinnacle of the island.

'_Oh dear. She__'__s been gone less than 20 minutes, and already everyplace that isn__'__t right next to her is dangerous?__'_

As he started walking back to the beach to check in with the others, he muttered, "She's never gonna believe I fully intended to stay out of trouble this week."

\o/

* * *

**Thanks all, for the deadline encouragement. Reading your fics is intimidating. I'm humbled by the humor and twister-iffic word-play y'all are churning out.**

_Still, __**somebody**__ had to blow up something besides Castle this hiatus! (And really __**you**__ try whining to Kai-Rhee that you __'__can__'__t even.__' __I__'__ve already done plenty of push-ups this summer, thank you very much.) _

_**Next up: Why is Kate so happy about visiting Castle**__**'**__**s cabin last Saturday night? Why would Rick be late for roll call? And why would Ryan say, **_**"****Why am I getting a message addressed to ****'****Emergency Contacts for Javier Esposito****'****?****"**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Ya know those episodes where half the scenes are flashbacks? Yeah, Caskett and the Bros LOVE those episodes. Relax while the New Yorkers have their memory playlists on shuffle. All the songs will make sense again, soon. **

* * *

"Is there anything more depressing than a Castle-less Monday?"

Ryan was describing Beckett walking distractedly back to the break room for her third attempt to create something coffee-like that didn't turn her stomach. Without a new case to tackle, his boss was all too caught up in the ways that her job wasn't quite as fun without suspects, or her writer, to wrangle.

The day had started off well for Kate. She had intended to check things off her to-do list that she rarely had time for, determined to make the week a productivity windfall if she had to spend it once again without her fiancé. Her face had been a picture of professional go-getter-ness when gleaming elevator doors let her loose into the bullpen.

She greeted Ryan, already at his desk, with a formal "Good Morning, Detective," in hopes that she could set the tone of the day with more focus on 'I'm still your boss and we have work to do,' and less on, 'let's gossip about half-naked island adventures and ray guns.'

Her plan had been working like a charm until mid-morning coffee break. The literal 'bitter-taste' of a Monday without Castle was hard to swallow, but Kate eventually got back to her list of some-day-maybe tasks.

Ryan ordered in Vietnamese lunch for 2, so that kept her on her roll until mid-afternoon, though the sweet sticky sauce was a distracting reminder of how Rick liked to lick the underside of her hands sometimes when her food started to drip. The habit made her giggle embarrassingly at restaurants and at home. She was quite sure the spectacle would end up on page 6 eventually, and that's not really the image she wanted blasted to all of New York. She had a job to do. If the next door she knocked on revealed a sweaty guy offering to lick sauce off her body rather than cooperate with her canvass, Rick Castle was gonna pay through the nose.

Sadly, by 4pm her gusto was gone. Their workplace seemed to be filled with only the empty sound of clocks ticking, the sour taste of burnt coffee, and the heavy smell of the janitorial disinfectants the cleaners had used over the weekend.

\o/

* * *

"This blows!" Ryan, lost in his own thoughts of crumbling ambition for the day, stared off into space, muttering absentminded obscenities to the empty room, trying to channel the undercover glory days when he didn't need his partner to act like a legitimate tough guy.

"I'm _**supposed to be**_ at a baseball game right now." As he filled out paperwork, complaining aloud filled some of the vacuum that the empty desk behind him created.

"I'm _**supposed to be**_ ingesting indigestible things that only taste good with a tiny $12 beer." He dotted the 'i' of his printed name dramatically.

"I'm _**supposed to be**_ bustin' on Javi for tall tales of bedroom reconnaissance." He flipped the paper over. "**Not** filling out barely decodable vacation request forms to change our days off in triplicate."

Ryan was more bored than bitter. "Yesss, it's nice that LT got to take his nephew to the game."

He dotted the 'i's' of his department's name with staccato flair. "Yes, it's nice that we traded up for better seats."

Kevin finished his form and started copying a duplicate version for Javier. "Cause we _**need**_ to see our boys clobber Oakland in June."

After crossing the 't' of his partner's name with the showmanship of a pit percussionist, he halted at the sound of his phone's alert ringtone.

_**Swing and a miss!**_

His features turned pouty as he swiped the screen to see who scored first. "It's _**his**_ gift, he can do whatever he wants with it."

Kev could be dramatic when it seemed harmless to do so, but in truth he was happy Javi was getting a chance to catch up with veteran buddies. He knew how much his service meant to him, and he sincerely hoped that a trip down memory lane would lift his best friend's spirits. It was the timing that had his knickers in a twist.

"Just a bummer to be missing Kuroda on the mound." As his phone app counted off the balls and strikes in real time, Kevin's senses longed for wide open sky, checkerboard-cut grass, a sweaty cup of lukewarm Yuengling, and the game that crawled at the perfect speed to open up conversations about the big things in life.

While Esposito watched the game vicariously, in the nostalgia of catching and throwing the ball himself, his best friend enjoyed it for the narrative, both on the field and in the stands.

For Ryan, baseball moved at the pace of a really good story, unfolding slowly, with no pressure to press down the court in perspiration. It was his Irish side that reveled in a meandering yarn, lush with detail, and insight, and the little gems of revelation that could build understanding. Trading stories with Espo, when they had a chance to really relax into them, had started their bromance in the first place.

\o/

* * *

On their first day together, Detective Ryan was sure that Detective Esposito was ready to eat him for breakfast. The way he fidgeted with his pencil, and smoothed his hair, and spoke first to the Captain, every tiny habit seemed to rub his new partner the wrong way.

"Are you always this high strung?" Esposito asked, after Ryan pushed the elevator button for the third time.

"I'm not hi**gh** strung!" Kevin was immediately embarrassed that his voice could still squeak like an adolescent when he was nervous. He was trying to show his new partner that he could hold his own, that he was a real cop, even if he looked too young to drink.

"Uh-huh." Espo clearly remained unconvinced.

Kev wasn't entirely thrilled with some of Javi's habits either. "Are you always this _pleasant_?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do realize that you've scowled at least 5 times in the last 5 minutes. Aren't you ever just _happy_?"

"I'm happy!" Javi protested. Kevin didn't realize that sometimes Javier found it difficult to relax around new people. All he could see was Espo's facial expression, which had defaulted to something resembling 'intimidate-the-suspect.'

"Then, what's with the face?"

Ryan learned the hard way that his new partner preferred to resolve some discussions with nonverbal cues, when Espo stood toe to toe with him for a stare down.

"This IS my happy face."

Luckily, Kevin was a pro at diffusing tension. As they rode down the elevator, he knew better than to smile knowingly at Javier's instinctual attempts to claim alpha dog status. He kept his eyes straight ahead and waited for his moment.

\o/

* * *

Fate smiled on him when they both signed up for the precinct's volunteer day with the K-9 unit's outreach program, which awarded a half a day off and nose bleed seats at Yankee Stadium.

Ryan arranged his scorecard, pencil and refreshments in a specific order that had him adjusting himself for the first ten minutes after they found their seats. Meanwhile, Espo chewed his snacks with overactive jaw muscles and barely hid his annoyance behind dark sunglasses. But during the long game, the little Irishmen lured the elusive Latino into sharing all kinds of personal information. And Kevin was so enthralled to hear stories of the senior detective's past, he'd barely left his seat for 14 frames, scoring a horrendous sunburn for his loyalty.

Taking in their first game together was a long golden afternoon with a very different tone than the one Javier shared with Kai-Rhee, but the alliance born was even stronger. Even if they appeared to contrast each other like sunrise and sunset, Kevin easily pegged a dozen commonalities that criss-crossed their experience. At the end of the day, Esposito had relaxed his guard, but still appeared unsold on the pairing. Ryan, on the other hand, went home a hopeful homicide detective.

Before switching departments, Kevin was sure he wanted to catch killers more than cartels. All his morality lined up to cheerlead that move. Clearly if he wanted the best, then he wanted to work for Beckett. His only hesitation was about being assigned to a partner that he'd never met.

Kevin's painful sunblock fail and Javier's embarrassing outline of raccoon-like eyes triggered in each other rounds of merciless teasing in the bullpen the next day, proving all his hesitation needless. It was clear they had something. Obviously, he'd made the right move from Narcotics to Homicide.

\o/

* * *

Just like Beckett, Ryan didn't want to admit to himself that work kinda sucked without his partner there. All day Monday, Kev & Kate were putting on brave independent fronts, but the idea of a whole week without Latin Heat _**or**_ Hamptons Heat to provide thermodynamics looked bleak.

"Hihhhh!" A forlorn sigh escaped from Kev's lips as he rested one chiseled cheekbone onto the heel of his hand. Baby blue eyes stared dejectedly through Captain Gate's closed door, following leads of a tangential stream of consciousness.

When Beckett crossed in front of his desk, she stopped in her tracks to stare in the same direction, looking for a clue that explained her teammate's confounded expression.

Kev shared guilelessly, "Without Castle and Espo to fill the air with dueling aftershaves, the bullpen smells tragically antiseptic. Don't you think?"

"Ummmm…" Beckett sipped her latest caffeinated experiment to buy her time. She struggled to pull on a face that wouldn't betray embarrassment for Kevin's candor. "...Never really thought about it."

Kate's statement was patently false. She had often indulged her olfactory senses in the years when having eye sex with Castle was too dangerous a proposition. But a white lie to protect her employee's already paper thin dignity was obviously in order.

Luckily, both were saved from further awkwardness by a dinging priority email notification in their inboxes. Each rolled their chairs into their desks to get a look.

'_Oh please let it be a case!_'

'_Oh please let it be a case!_'

The detectives selfishly prayed a New Yorker's tragic end would save them from the machinations of crime fighting low gear.

\o/

* * *

Kate read with alarm, "To emergency contacts for Richard Castle?"

Ryan asked himself under his breath, "Why am I getting a message addressed to emergency contacts for Javier Esposito?" His stomach flipped over with apprehension.

The rest of both messages was identical.

* * *

**Fr: Valedictoria Evans**

**Dt: Monday, April 7th, 2014**

**Re: Notification of Non-Injury **

To whom it may concern,

This is to notify the persons listed as emergency contacts, that all clients at our camp have been screened and found to have zero injuries related to the events of the weekend. You may have heard that the island housing our facilities suffered an explosion on Sunday afternoon at 13:00 hours. According to all reports, the blast originated from the opposite end of the island due to accidental equipment failure, at an offsite building.

Repair crews have already remedied the issue, and assured us that they have taken all reasonable precautions to prevent a repeated disruption.

As for the continuation of training, I am pleased to report that after a thorough examination of both our camp and the physical condition of each client, all are fit to resume work. All parties have agreed to continue the week as originally planned.

Each client has opted to remain in radio silence of their own accord. However, it is my intention to address the incomplete information you may have received late Sunday before our communications tower was routinely disabled.

Due to the unusual nature of this incident, I am willing to relay one message and one response to and from the client in order to address any further questions you may have. You may expect responses by 19:00 EST.

Sincerely,

V. Evans

\o/

* * *

What followed the worried consumption of this information was a special moment for Kevin and Kate. Both had enjoyed synchronized utterance with their respective partners on multiple occasions, but never with each other. As soon as each detective finished reading the email, they turned to each other, saying urgently and in unison:

"I'm going down there!"

"I'm going down there!"

\o/

* * *

Just before 1 pm on Sunday, Javier Esposito was perched on the upper deck of Kai-Rhee's cliffside home. His arms leaned into the railing as he rocked his upper half nervously over the edge and back again. Each time his triceps would push his torso a little farther over the edge, as if he could propel down to the boat Beckett was leaving on. And each time, his hands would grip the rail hard enough to reel himself back onto the deck.

If he could split himself in two, he'd be both places. The relative emotional safety of New York beckoned. That's where nobody pushed him too hard out of his comfort zone, because he wouldn't let them. The city was filled with devils, but they were mostly the devils he knew.

He admonished himself for worrying too much about Ryan on the streets without him. _'__He__'__s a grown ass man. I__'__m sure he can survive a few days without getting whacked. At least he __**better**__.__'_

Espo was drawn into the opportunities of the island. Here things were different. Here with Kai-Rhee, and other vets, a piece of him that had dwarfed with atrophy was allowed to come out and play. He wasn't ready to give it up yet.

He'd made a successful transition into mainstream life already. The nightmares were few and mostly manageable. And Kai-Rhee was right, he _**had**_ gotten a little soft trying to fit into the mold of modern city life. It was a trade off he was willing to make for a place to land. It certainly didn't help that his team included two relatively effeminate partners.

_'__Thank goodness Beckett brings another boost of testosterone to our team!__'_

Working robbery with Ike and the other boys had been easier on Espo's pride in that regard. Those jokers were closer to the kind of unit he was used to in the army, and several of his buddies at the 54th were vets. Espo didn't need to think so hard when he ran with that crew.

Even though his homicide squad was a different kind of pack, they were more like family now than the dumb nuts in robbery had ever been. Ryan. He missed Ryan. No doubt the young Irishmen would be an uncomfortable fly on the wall with no place to fit in, if he came to the island. _'Still, there'r some things only Kev would get about what's happening for me here.' _

Mostly Javier wished his best friend could see him so happy. He figured that he'd smiled more in the last 3 days, than the whole last month.

All the extra static that circulated around Espo's reaction time, as he navigated the fast-talking, high-bullshit, low-investment hipsters in city life, was cleared here. In a world of Kai-Rhee's making, he knew his first instincts were much more likely to serve him well. If Javi was quick in the city, in her world he might just be able to fly.

**KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!**

As as the sonic boom rocked through him, he watched pieces of flaming debris drift over the crest of the island, standing motionless.

Javier couldn't immediately put together what was happening. Everything seemed to be moving in a surreal collision of jamais vu, as if he was recalling a memory of the explosions of war that he _**should **_remember, except none of the details around him fit properly into his memory banks.

For a few long seconds, the cop didn't have a worry about the safety of Kai-Rhee, or Castle, or anyone that he cared about. He was dazed in a moment of displacement as he tried to figure out _what_ and _when_ and _who_ he was at the moment.

It wasn't until he heard the voices of men scurrying around the beach below, shouting to each other to account for all personnel, that Espo was able to reload his timeline and realize that something was very wrong.

\o/

* * *

As the boat pulled away, Hoax and Simon continued restocking the supplies that the transport had left stacked on the dock. Both men worked silently and swiftly to stack, hoist and distribute, without more than a few words for each other. Hoax, especially, needed to readjust from the mental attitude that made him a gregarious party animal with his Miami peeps to the task-and-completion mindset.

Kai-Rhee had been correct that Simon would be an asset to their team, but Hoax still wished for a little more warmth and conversation from his counterpart. The big man couldn't explain why, but he often felt more like he was on a deserted island when Simon _entered_ the room, than when Hoax found himself truly alone.

**KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!**

The explosion sent both men to the window for visual confirmation of the the shaking ground. With the briefest nod, Simon immediately took off in the direction of the smoke.

Big man just shook his head, "_And my money is safe with not a moment to spare.__" _He made his way to the kitchen bunker to procure a small insurance policy that he could conceal inside his pocketed vest.

The ex-soldier knew he shouldn't be smiling as he slipped the piece into its discreet holster, but the rident urge defiantly snuck across his face as he said,_"__C__'__mon D-Day, show me whatchu workin__' __with__…"_

\o/

* * *

"**Richard Castle**, you wanna keep your name, you need to comport yourself accordingly."

Kai-Rhee already had the disdain in her voice turned up to megaphone levels as Rick tried to sneak into the mess hall **late** on Monday morning. The writer noticed no one was eating or drinking their usual breakfasts. Instead his five cohorts were seated facing the Master Sergeant at the far end of the hall, while Hoax, Esposito and Simon stood in a row behind them. Each of the imposing musclebound men turned their torsos to present three sets of arms all crossed in front of their chests. Castle gulped in worry that he'd inadvertently angered all those biceps when all six of their eyes joined Kai-Rhee's in a octet of harrowing glares for his tardy disruption.

When sensei noticed Rick's mouth agape but silent, she explained, "You didn't think I couldn't take it back. Did you?" She hardened her stare. "If I giveth, I can taketh away, _**Mr. Castle**_."

Rick slunk onto the nearest bench. The sound of his chosen pen name, instead of the cartoon cat he'd earned, was a crushing blow. He tried not to let it get to him, or at least to hide how effectively she had put him in his place. All the reasons he'd whimpered through his breakfasts the previous week came rushing back. _'What exactly had I expected?'_ His delusions that the Nermal-nator would be magically impervious to Krypton law came crashing down.

"As I was saying…"

The eyes of the group swiveled back to the orator. However, Esposito tersely pursed his lips for Castle making his NY team look bad. Obviously, Kai-Rhee had already handed out most of the punishment needed, but Espo couldn't help pouring on a little more, since that was half the fun he'd decided to stay for.

In NYC, Rick had the upper hand wired. He could get out of anything. He seemed to have almost every advantage that Javi lacked. Esposito couldn't be blamed for enjoying a brief respite from writer-boy's endless get-out-of-jail free pass.

"My contact for the neighboring compound assures me that yesterday's disturbance was a one-time occurrence caused by equipment malfunction, and that repair crews have already taken all precautions to prevent a repeat performance."

Kai-Rhee's gaze searched each set of eyes in front of her. "Under the circumstances, I completely understand if you'd like to change your plans for the week. Anyone wishing to do so can be on the shuttle ship in less than an hour. While I believe my contact is transparent about his knowledge of the incident, obviously there are more factors at play than any one person can fully grasp. I'll not pass judgement on anyone who decides to go."

Her posture straightened in respect. "Each of you has already done good work here, no shame in leaving it at that."

She gave a lingering look to the youngest men: Cannon, Kreuger and Fitz. Hoax recognized the gesture as the closest thing to 'mothering' that the Master Sergeant ever needed to express.

"For anyone who'd like to stay, I'll see you on the beach for our run in 5."

\o/

* * *

This time when the men met their trainers on the hard sand for a quick stretch before they started to jog, a new look of respect passed between each of them. Risk, greater than the possibility of ridicule, had been introduced to their excursion. Castle and the other clients were already giving themselves kudos for bravery they hadn't even shown yet. Even though most of them wouldn't have thought to trump up such a decision in their real lives, living in the shadow of their decorated trainers, the gestalt of 'bravery' had taken on a life of it's own.

When all six clients had assembled, Simon and Hoax ran ahead. Kai-Rhee and Esposito followed close behind, side by side. The four of them, illustrated in eastern sunlight, struck Castle as a moving picture of human strength. It wasn't just the glossy curves of shoulders and calf muscles pulling away in a tight formation. There was something else about it, something invisible to the naked eye that seemed to capture all four of them, and punch them up to larger than life.

Castle mulled it over.

'_Perhaps, it's a result of Kai-Rhee's leadership?'_

Rick had always marveled at the valor of soldiers who risked themselves for a greater directive, one they could rarely grasp from their vantage point on the front lines. In that moment, though, he gained a greater understanding of the complementary urge to join in lockstep with fellow enlisted, no matter the cost. He, like the three men running on her flanks, would most likely follow Kai-Rhee anywhere, if a life depended on it.

It wasn't the same feeling that made him press his luck to save Beckett, or prove himself to her. Those feats of derring-do were born of fear, and faith, and reckless wagers that fate favored those in love.

Castle saw the force field that surrounded Kai-Rhee and the trained professionals running down the beach _**not**_ as a two-way street. It was an all-way street, some sort of threshold that they needed to cross all together. And he felt privileged to find himself drawn in to some small part of that.

Rick judged from the faces of all the clients, that the net of allegiance had trawled the whole group beyond rationality, with barely a lofty ideal to unite them.

With that kind of banner flying overhead, the writer mused that anything stupid enough to stir something up would be ill-advised to challenge them. If the synergy of their New York foursome was any indication of the power of strength in numbers, Castle deemed invincibility was the potential for the 10 in Kai-Rhee's outfit.

As they jogged over the familiar path, Castle took the prompt to fancy himself an author of war stories, and started inventing heroic deeds involving bridges over the River Kwai for himself and his compatriots.

He breathed the new air of determination to regain his rightful namesake. Nothing so diverting as a jaunt through the imagination to make Richard Castle's world come to life and boost his ambition.

Castle was a millionaire long before he ever made the New York Times best seller list. Words, and sweet beautiful images, robust with character, and plunging action made him richer than his royalties ever would.

\o/

* * *

"Having trouble sitting still?" Ryan asked.

Unlike her Friday trip with Javier, The flight from JFK to Miami International Airport on Monday night was less than restful for Detective Kate Beckett. Ryan was trying to be a helpful travel companion by giving her the aisle seat, but all it did was give Kate one less obstacle to incessant pacing. She'd made the trip to the restroom enough times to give the flight attendant the idea that something was going on for her medically.

As Beckett returned to her seat for the sixth time, the attendant arrived at their row to ask, "Are we expecting?"

Not realizing that the question was directed to her, Kate instinctively looked to Kevin as if all questions of a baby-related manner must be deferred to their rightful owner.

The stewardess took that to mean something else entirely.

"Oh, are you two keeping it a secret? Don't worry I won't let on, but I'm not sure your bladder will be so discreet." She leaned in towards Kate, "Just let me know if you need something. And the airsick bags are right here." She patted the seat back pocket.

By the time she finished, Beckett's confusion was trading itself for embarrassment, not for Ryan's promotion to polygamous stud, but more for Castle's boisterous attempts to plant a seed over the weekend. _'Someday I might be answering this question in earnest.'_

Kevin Ryan turned part chameleon as his face shifted from green to yellow to red, before it landed on purple. Aside from being his boss, the logistics involved in bedding Beckett, even without her stilettos, was enough to scare the pants off the young detective. Pun unintended.

Taking in Kevin's expression distracted Kate from all her fears about Castle on a combustible islet. She made a hasty decision to play along.

"Thanks. I appreciate your discretion. You know how hard it is to tell anyone before you're sure this time will take."

The flight attendant quickly concurred, "Of course! My mom waited until the end of her second trimester. I don't know how she managed to struggle through so much discomfort without so much as a word of commiseration. She was made of iron. Worked up until the last hour before labor. If she hadn't started waddling, I'm not sure she would have let on at all. She hated when people made a fuss."

Their volunteer conspirator turned to Ryan, "Don't look so green, fella. Your part of the people-building process is over. She's the one who constructed a central nervous system while you enjoyed your pre-flight nap."

Just then, the only male flight attendant on board passed by with a head flick salute of deep respect for Ryan's Napoleonic conquest of the hottest, and tallest, woman on the plane.

The opened-mouth look of muted horror on Kevin's face was worth its weight in presupposed pregnancy for Beckett. She could see why Espo could remain almost cheerful during the more thankless parts of his job. Teasing Kevin Ryan was better than Nascar for diversionary sport. Her nerves were already settled enough to pull a pillow under her neck and attempt a red-eye catnap.

With her eyes shut tight, and her counterpart burying his head in a book to hide his shame, Beckett started a replay reel of the more delightful parts of her weekend reunion with Rick to ward off worry's return.

\o/

* * *

Saturday night was everything Katherine had hoped for.

Castle's cabin, modest and sparse, had been all she'd needed to feel pampered. After several failed attempts to kindle the mood, privacy (and her fiancé's full attention) was all the luxury she could ask for.

The humid night air had served as the aphrodisiac that neither of them needed by the time they rushed into the room and shut the screen door behind them. The sound of waves crashing worked better than mood music to set an intimate atmosphere. When a gust of warm breeze swept through the room, and knocked bamboo chimes against the dojo's supporting pillars, Rick seemed to swell over her with a rush of spurred desire.

Castle's newly hardened muscles were responding to more than her fingers trailing down his swollen chest and articulated abdomen.

In only a week's time, her fiance seemed to connect viscerally with the natural elements of the island. He appeared to be **listening **to the night and to her, more than talking, while he made his overtures to love-making. The wit-olympics of their vivid innuendos seemed out of place with both their bodies drenched in moonlight.

Even Castle's non-stop **inner** babble appeared to flatten into a quiet waveform of silent appreciation as he drew his hands and eyes down her body painted in moon silver. She saw his features crumble in worship of the curves of her breasts spilled over the sides of her body, echoing the half crescent in the night sky, until they reached the two made by her hips.

Silently, she traced the outline of his debonaire hair, the curve of his ear, down to the spot on his sternum that mirrored her bullet-sized scar.

'_His heart brought us to this island, just like it brought us through years of separation before I could love him out loud. His heart is strong enough to hold both of us, no matter what that EKG says.' _

Beckett had the habit of speaking freely to Castle in her head. Years of biting on the words she wasn't ready to say had worn that habit into her tongue, like raindrops carving a canyon, one desirous droplet at a time.

'_Thank God you were strong enough to say it, brave enough to risk everything when I couldn't. I love you, Richard Edgar Castle.'_

\o/

* * *

Castle didn't know his fiancé was in a plane headed his way.

After a torturous Monday regimen lost interest in abusing him, it dropped him limply into his bunk. Since his body had been made achingly useless, Rick searched his mental stronghold for some healing solace. Still sullen because he lost his claim to Nermal fame, he desperately needed a happiness treatment.

'_Oh how I adore this bunk!' _

Exactly one week ago, his memory had rubbed down his soul with the tiger balm of consummating lust Kate inspired on the hood of his Ferrari. Upon Lunes return, however, he had something even better. His island bed wasn't 'his' anymore. Now he thought of it as a dais belonging to his Beckett bride-to-be.

\o/

* * *

Saturday night was everything Richard had hoped for.

When all the elements conspired, the queen of his fantasies laid back on his cot, while he stood motionless, unsure where to begin. There were so many curves to appreciate, so many miles of coastline on her supine figure that seemed to stretch for eternity. Just like the first day they met, Rick dangled from the hook of her come-hither finger.

'_This is for her. This is the body __**she**__ created.__' _

Whenever he wanted to quit, it was Kate's example that wouldn't let him. Whatever 'upgrades' he'd installed, were a result of her inspiring modeling. _'__She deserves every bit of power and pleasure it can give her.__'_

Over their chaste extended courtship Richard Castle had demonstrated sincere friendship, support, and all the things that a modern marriage would require to remain an alliance between equals.

Sex, the final frontier of trust and intimacy, became the way he professed those promises with exponential import.

He pushed his way inside her, with trembling humility.

The woman he entered had been his Aphrodite, his Artemis, his Athena. She'd even been his Calliope and Erato for years, when he could only touch her with words. Now that his body was allowed worship at her temple, all her manifestations converged into one.

'_She__'__s my future.__'_

His triceps yo-yo-ed his body up and down over her form, delighted to be performing their task for such noble purpose as entering Kate. As her body rocked in response, he lost track of the repetitions. He lost track of all numbers, and all linear logic, and anything that wasn't driving him to pump more of himself into her.

Rick could always zero in on his muse, but over the course of the week, his whole body had reorganized itself with a singularity of focus that filtered down to even molecular changes. Castle's eyes didn't wander about for a novel means to leverage their enjoyment. There was only one point of entry into their lovemaking that night.

Nor was the writer hemming words around their naked forms. All he saw was Katherine luminescent in lunar light.

Like the Lady of the Night who holds the anchor of hope for seamen adrift on an ominous ocean, she was the only heavenly body to hang brightly in his sky. He loved her with more man than he knew he had inside him, even though she could make him act like a lunatic. That was nothing new.

'_She__'__s where I find the better me.__' _

As perspiration hugged his body like a wet suit, Rick performed the longest speechless meditation of his life, riding wave after wave of her exaltations to shore. He couldn't count the hours or the number of times her walls crashed down around him. For once, he was a man without comment. He marshaled his art mutely, like the moving meditations he'd learned in the studio, except that inside Kate he didn't need to discipline his jaw shut. He simply had no words. They'd been swept away by the riptide of her beauty exposed.

\o/

* * *

Kate remembered Castle's unspeaking shell because it startled her as it broke open.

Eventually, the only utterance the writer could verbalize came in response to her own whispered cries of "Yes!" as both their bodies sang out joy in union.

She had unknowingly uttered, "Thank You… thank you," as she slid down the other side of perspicacious thought. In her mind, she was expressing gratitude for her body's own capacity for pleasure, and the dark night to make it safe to explore those edges, just as much as her partner's fine-tuned ability to draw her into the clutch of oblivion.

In response, Rick whispered, "Always," in her ear, but it wasn't the familiar promise that struck her. It was the diaphragmatic control with which he spoke the word. It ruptured her bliss-made cocoon with its total commitment.

The sound penetrated her. Even **healed** her with an involuntary convulsion as proof. She'd never forget it.

\o/

* * *

Beckett knew for certain that any belabored two days of traveling to and from Krypton's Atlantic hideaway was worth the night they had spent together. For her, even more than her fiancé's trick-my-ride anatomy makeover, their separation had been a windfall because it gave stage to Castle's selfless focus on their connection.

She wondered if her writer was sending her psychic text messages from the bed they had shared. Before drifting to sleep on the plane, Kate's head filled with poetry that sounded more like something _**he**_ might muse.

'_What makes us work is the countless ways we roll, like waves, away from each other, before we come crashing back together in a new combination of need…_

…_and trust,_

…_and desire.'_

She wasn't entirely sure which of those things was propelling her back to his side, unbidden. But it didn't matter. She needed to see him with her own eyes. Even if he turned out to be fine, and the explosion was indeed a non-malicious accident, her heart wasn't in the mood for being rational.

The plume of purple passion still aerating her every particle purveyed it's own advice on where she needed to be.

'_If the universe, in its infinite wisdom, hasn't seen fit to give me a case to solve, so i can make my useful in New York, I'm going to make myself as useless as possible near the man that I love.'_

\o/

* * *

_**For all the brave folks facing challenges that are bigger than they can shoulder in solitude. My heart is with you. **_

_**My gratitude for PM's and Reviews. It's good to know when I'm not alone. **_

_**Next up: How do Rick & Javi welcome their partners? Whose biceps win Tuesday's pull-up challenge? How does Ryan make his first island alliance? **_


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: Welcome back to the island! Master Sergeant wants aerodynamics, so this chapter is streamlined to fly into summer fic deadline. No slackers here, Kai-Rhee. Castle, Beckett, Ryan and Espo are ready!**_

* * *

Despite the unholy agony in his upper back and hamstrings, Richard Castle was determined to be _**on time**_ for Tuesday morning's breakfast. Exactly one week from the morning he'd watched Alpha-bits taunt him with reminders of his fiancé, and he was back to square one in some respects.

Even after busting his butt yesterday, Master Kai-Rhee still hadn't seen fit to reinstate Castle's name. To add to the injury, no new recruits had shown up to divert attention away from his low-man-on-the-totem-pole status, and the scent of Kate's body lingered on his t-shirt because she had worn it overnight on Saturday.

No name. No Beckett. Just like the good ole days of his first year at the 12th precinct, Monday had been an experiment in ways to torture Richard Castle with things he couldn't have.

When Rick opened the door to Tuesday morning mess hall, he thought maybe he was still dreaming or maybe contracted some tropical fever that caused delusions. He stood at the door trying to make sense of it.

Beckett and Ryan appeared to be eating breakfast with Balboa and Creed. His fiancé seemed to be smiling over her coffee, laughing over a joke Adnan was meting out. She looked so happy, so beautiful.

'_If I'm about to die from some equatorial infection, at least the hallucinations are good!' _

Bob waved his thick mitt toward the writer. "Howdy, Castle, look who the cat dragged in!"

Rick came to stand at the end of the picnic table in between Kevin and Kate. "How…What…When?"

"I think you're right, Ryan, maybe the decrease in Body Mass Index is draining his verbal prowess." She squeezed Castle's hand to reassure him that she was real. "We've worked out an arrangement with Kai-Rhee, so we can stay the week."

Rick turned to Kevin for confirmation, or perhaps a reality check. The young detective took a big slurping chomp of alphabet cereal and crunched it in his teeth before giving Castle a chipmunk-cheeked grin. With his mouth very full, he teased, "Yep, heard the breakfast was to die for. Want some?" He offered up a spoonful of sugary wheat-made letters.

Kai-Rhee's voice rang out from the door. "I don't think so, _Mr. Castle_. I believe today is toad slime in your rotation." She flicked her thumb toward the kitchen window, where Hoax was setting down the author's dark green smoothie for the day.

The Master Sergeant strode over to their table, while Adnan went to fetch Rick's drink dying in the window. Delphi knew the green one was much easier to get down if swallowed in its entirety before it separated into its component parts. If not, the parsley started getting bitter, and the lemon could curl toes. His new friend put the drink directly into Rick's hands with a straw.

"Now, Castle, can I trust you to handle the rules of my island while your friends are here?"

Rick was eager to agree so that this fantasy wouldn't end. Like a kid trying to convince his parents to agree to a best friend sleep over, he repeated the guidelines faithfully, "No masturbating, no writing, no plotting, no networking, yes ma'am." _'Dammit! I screwed up the address. Kate is already throwing me off my game.'_ "I mean, yes, Master Sergeant! Crystal clear on the rules, Master Sergeant!"

'_Crap, I'll pay for that later, but at least Beckett will be here to see the push-ups.' _

She turned to Beckett, "I've got a cabin for you, by the water. Mr. Ryan, I'm still working on yours. Fitzy has spread out a month's worth of high tech accoutrements into the adjoining quarters. In the meanwhile, you are welcome to drop your things with Roc and I up on the cliff.

Esposito entered the room shaking his head. "Couldn't stand a whole week without me, huh?" Ryan stood to receive his partner's squeezing hug.

Espo's excitement and extra time at the 'gym' yesterday almost crushed his friend.

"Ow, ow, okay, let go!" Ryan yelped.

Kai-Rhee could see immediately that she'd made the right decision, even if it made her leadership trickier to navigate for the rest of the week. She admonished Kevin, "Now, if the lateral movements get to be too much, I expect you to stop and lay down. You'll need to take pressure off it, if you expect to be able to keep up with the other exercises. We are not in the business of crippling folks who already come with injuries."

Rick wanted to object to Ryan's special treatment already, but his mouth was full of pond scum.

As Kai-Rhee went to retrieve her vegetables from the kitchen, Esposito stayed to check-in with his best friend. "You gonna run the beach with us? It's gorgeous. You're gonna love it."

Kevin explained as he resumed his seat at the table with a stretch, "Well, I've been up for almost 25 hours, so who knows how graceful I'll be, but I'd love to get some of the kinks out from traveling."

'_Oh, that__'__s even better!__'_ Kevin was klutzy even on his best day. The fun Javi could have with a deliriously tired Kev by his side boosted the day's potential for buffoonery by half.

Espo's face came alive as he slapped his best friend on the shoulder and went to talk to Hoax. "These for me?"

"Yes indeed. Just the way you like 'em."

He slapped the counter and pointed at his friend in the kitchen. "Thanks, bartender, I've been dreaming about these for years. Nobody makes 'em like you." Esposito retrieved two towering blood red concoctions from the window and brought them to his partner.

"Bro, you gotta try this. These kept me alive for months. Hoax can put some hair on your chest, if he doesn't kill ya first." He hoisted his glass to the big man in the kitchen. "I used to drink these every morning for breakfast."

Beckett chimed in, unable to refrain from teasing Javier's unshielded enthusiasm. "I thought you ate classifieds for breakfast, Esposito."

Javi's face turned annoyed because he was still peeved that writer-man got to hear about top-secret info as Beckett's partner, while he was kept in the dark. "I **_did!_**" His expectant eyes held out the glass to Ryan. "But, that was just a garnish to El Diablo Rojo, here."

Kevin put down his spoon and accepted the glass. He was so happy to see his best friend and it was an extra bonus that the light in his dark brown eyes had returned. Perhaps the lack of sleep had him emotional, but Ryan turned a little bromantic.

"Til the wheels fall off." He clinked his glass to Javier's.

"You know it, partner. Bottoms up!"

Both men started gulping quickly. But after 3 swallows Kevin sprayed his mouthful all over Castle and partially on Beckett, gasping and sputtering for air like an asthmatic with a defective inhaler. After Kate ascertained that Ryan was okay, she started wiping herself and Castle down.

Espo chugged to the bottom of his glass and slammed it down empty on the table in excitement. "Whoa!"

"What the hell was in that, man? I feel like I just snorted lighter fluid."

"Not sure. I think horseradish, but feels great doesn't it?"

Hoax yelled across the hall, veritably bursting to get in on the fun of Kevin's reaction. "Wasabi!"

Incredulous Kev turned to the big man, "For breakfast?!"

"Rise and shine, it's napalm time." Hoax could barely deliver a punchline without laughing. Life was just too funny.

Javier bounced on his heels, looking like a powder keg of adrenaline. Kevin was ready to crawl into the nearest bed and pull something, anything, over his head, anything but goose-down.

He complained to Kate and Rick, hoping for a sane sympathetic ear, "This isn't breakfast. Breakfast is bland, breakfast is quiet, perhaps a croissant… or if you are very lucky, pancakes." Ryan pushed the tall glass away, and swirled his spoon around his cereal bowl. "Breakfast is a newspaper, and a demitasse spoon, and a beagle bringing your slippers, and pajamas. It's a _holy_ thing."

Espo wasn't swayed. "Bro, your R2-D2 Tee does_** not**_ count as pajamas."

As Kate wiped down Rick's face and gave him an indulgent smile, the writer desperately hoped she had smuggled in some New York normalcy inside her carry-on. Bro banter was a nice start that he wanted in on, but Castle was torn. He had Ryan's back on the sanctity of a quiet morning meal, but also agreed with Espo about the perfunctory use of sleepwear terminology. He decided to split the difference, by adding an enigmatic, "You gotta respect the pajama."

Esposito, Ryan, and Beckett slowly turned toward their tag-along with concern corrupting their features, looking for signs of heat-induced delirium.

Kate took the sediment-caked glass from Rick's hands, like he was a child who might hurt himself with something sharp. "Pace yourself, Castle. We gotta long day ahead of us."

\o/

* * *

Katherine Beckett was all legs in short black shorts, thin NYPD tank top, and her hair in the pony tail she'd begun to favor. Rick almost didn't want to catch up to his fiancé. From his vantage point jogging behind her, he could easily admire the curves capping her legs and the delightful swing of her uber-bouncy hairstyle.

Esposito hung back to keep pace with Ryan, catching up on his partner's weekend of karaoke torture and fielding questions about his reunion with Kai-Rhee.

Ryan shook his head when he added up all the things Espo _**wasn**__**'**__**t **_mentioning when he talked about his old flame. _'__Oh, this is dangerous. Espo almost sounds in love. And there is no beer on premises to fix it, if it all blows up before the week is out.__'_

\o/

* * *

Kate was seriously enjoying pull up exercises suspended from the rungs of the Confidence Course. Pulling her chin over a steel bar with her bare hands released a tension in her driven-by-ghosts-and-demons countenance like nothing else could.

Beckett's lat to leg ratio made even one chin-up an improbable proposition. She gained the respect of Kai Rhee, and the adoration of every straight man watching, when she continued with the men thru all 3 sets.

Fitz was feeling something more like awkward jealousy for Kate's upper body strength and Castle's good fortune. _'__That's his Krueger? But she's already so perfectly perfect?!__'_

The techie consistently got hooked on obsessions that snagged his interest with their jagged edges, while passing on the ones with smooth surfaces. '_If Krueger had already worked his shit out, he wouldn't be half as interesting.__'_ It was his dark horses' tantalizing dangle just out of reach, but not so distant that he became un-relatable in an 'I've-got-myself-wired' way, that kept Fitzy on lock.

Watching Kate glisten and huff as she glided up and down in the noonday sun, he reflected, _'__I'm happy that C__astle__'__s got his blinding white shine, but I'll take my black diamond in the rough, thank you very much. So much more to dream about, so many possible futures still unwritten.__' _His journey toward knowing Kreuger was still in its first season, while Rick and Kate had already grown into an interdependence that allowed both to blossom into people more fully expressed.

After the mandatory reps were completed, the race for bragging rights (and the choice of which movie would be played after dinner) began. Fitz, Cannon, Balboa and Creed dropped out almost immediately, moaning in tortuous arm spasm agony, followed soon after by Beckett, Ryan and Kreuger.

Rick's long biceps, shining in a lacquer of spray-on sunblock, contracted into a bulbous width with each accent. His face contorted asymmetrically in an ugly mask of effort, but few eyes were focused there. Beckett, in particular, noticed beads of perspiration gathering on his skin, making trails that outlined his newly-identifiable abs, hard at work. In fact, she found it hard to look away as his shorts fell lower than usual on his hips, revealing a tan line that bordered indecency.

Javi's forearms, shoulders and deltoids rippled under sun-drenched skin, ribbons of muscle twitching rapidly in and out like the taut interweaving of a loom as each repetition shuttled his weight expertly up and down. Evans adjusted her mirrored sunglasses to appreciate the show from behind the suspended men. She took care to indulge without letting on to her clients that Espo's latissimus dorsi widening into a beautiful inverted triangle on his back was magnifying the tropical heat inside her. When his low back surprised her with an artful arch and swing to recover his hand position on the bar, she coughed and looked away to hide her jaw slack.

Espo grunted in between curls. "_Huh! _Looks like it's just you and me, writer-boy, _huh!_" He dared to waste his energy, and sacrifice his alignment, on a glance to the left to lay down a little psychological warfare on his friend. '_Let the games begin.__'_

Rick echoed a much more winded grunt, "_Uhyhn!_ Just you and I…" Rick struggled to get his next accent under his belt, squeaking, "Can't beat me with bad grammar. _Ahyn!_"

Javi's incredulity at Castle's unexpected retort made him jerk his head sideways abruptly, causing him to lose his left hand grip and dangle from just his right clasp on the bar.

Lead by Hoax, the men roared in unison, "Ohhhhh!" at Espo's unfair and suddenly imminent loss to an untrained civilian.

In a display of focused 'I refuse to be beaten by this chump who's isn't trained to take on more than one assailant at a time,' Javier Esposito, Special Forces veteran and three time triathlete, re-caught the bar in his left hand and steadied himself in preparation to exert the same expensive energy loss that the difficult first rep exacted. Without the benefits of momentum working for him, that blow would cost him dearly, though he wouldn't know how much until his muscle sensors reported in for a second recovery rep.

At that point, it didn't matter which man dropped in defeat first, Kate and Kai-Rhee had already won. Regardless if the group would be watching The Great Escape or the epic snowy mountain montages of Rocky IV, both women would most likely be more focused on surreptitiously slipping their hands over the pecs that fought the battle, and attempting to commandeer them for their own purposes for the rest of the evening.

The real winners of the man-show were the voyeurs.

\o/

* * *

"Hey there, Castle. Looks like you're missing something."

Kevin Ryan could still be a smart-ass, even if he needed to recline on the beach in a lounge chair, his nose painted thickly in opaque sunblock. Running felt great, and so did the nap he took afterwards, while the rest of the group worked out in the dojo. But the back and forth movements of the extreme Frisbee game Kai-Rhee had dreamt up for Tuesday afternoon proved too much for the young detective's tender low back. Every time Rick ran by, Kev was ready with a quip to rub in his co-worker's face. It was obvious the author was ready to fake an injury, just so he could sit down.

Richard's shirt was hanging off him in two flappy shreds. The Kapok tree that the author had just climbed decided to keep half of the material that originally covered Rick's chest in exchange for giving up the disc stuck in its branches. However, after it released Castle from it's clutches, the tangle of thick vines crisscrossing the base of the tree claimed his shoe and sent him tumbling twisted into the shrubbery below.

By the time Castle wrested himself out of the scratchy clutches of his abductor, he was minus one shoe, half a shirt, a patch of skin under his right buttock, and most of his pride.

The whole display of watching Rick climb precariously up, fighting with the branches to release the Frisbee, getting hoodwinked by vines, then swallowed by bushes was like watching a Rube Goldberg machine. Each component part seemed to trigger an even more hilarious trap to beset the millionaire.

Hands down, Ryan's favorite part was the string of vulgarity that seemed to spew forth from the wildly shaking vegetation, when none of the writer could be seen. With an audience of 11 people and 2 dogs, all clapping, jeering, yaffing and guffawing over Castle's increasingly compromised situation, Ryan already felt quite at home. Kevin couldn't have asked for a better show if he'd bought season tickets. He half expected Kai-Rhee to serve popcorn.

As Castle walked toward the relaxing Ryan, the author had plans to salvage his pride by ripping off the rest of his shirt, showing Ryan what real muscles looked like, and holding the Frisbee aloft as proof that he had actually won that round of man versus nature. Alas, the canine friends Music and Harmony tackled the writer before he reached the beach, tearing off the shirt in a less dignified way, and stole the disc of victory before Castle got the chance.

Kate had been containing her amusement in a smirk until that point. But when the dogs got involved, Beckett lost control of her laughter and folded over in riotous treason. The sound of her glee at his expense stung more than the salty sand invading his wounded keister.

When her fiancé lay back on the sand to relish the moment of resting muscles and blue sky rather than face the empty-handed walk of shame back to the game, Kate went to offer a penitent consolation prize.

Beckett stood over him, positioning her shadow to block the sun from his eyes. "You alright, Castle?"

"Oh fantastic! You didn't see any of that. Did you?"

She offered her complicit hand to help Rick up. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Good. We will never speak of this again."

Kate colluded, "Speak of what?"

\o/

* * *

Kevin sat out the rest of the afternoon until it was time for a longer run. Most of the men with thickly padded muscles fell back to return to base camp before reaching the outer limit target. But Fitzy and Ryan were both keeping a pace appropriate for endurance runners.

Luckily, the frustrated programmer could keep his position ahead of the new addition. There was nothing in Fitzy's self-control to keep his eyes trained on an appropriate part of that much delicious Irish cream pumping in front of him.

Kevin Ryan in shiny navy and gold athletic shorts and a criminally thread bare white tee had sent Fitz' unprepared eyes southward to avoid gawking. Unfortunately, the sight of barely visible athletic socks cuffing the sexiest ankles he'd ever seen was possibly even more dangerous to his state of mind.

Even if his heart belonged to Krueger, he wasn't blind. He just hoped Kevin's gaydar wasn't fully functional, so they could still be friendly. No need to scare off a potential comrade, just because he came in packaging that was so distractingly cute. Fitz told himself that he had plenty of straight friends; the MUD's and online games he frequented were filled with them. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of any corporeal examples that rivaled the hotness of the detective at his heels.

As Fitz and Ryan rounded the bend where the path widened enough to allow them to run side by side, Kevin spoke first. "So, track or cross-country?" Detectives notice things like the wear of tread on sneakers. Between that and the gait, it was clear to Ryan that Fitz could keep running for hours.

"Cross-country. West Marin County isn't really known for its flat surfaces. Besides, who wants to go round and round in a featureless circle while there are mountains and redwoods and fern spores to breathe?"

"Nice." Anyone who used the phrase 'fern spores' in the overture to a conversation was worth investigating in Kevin's view. "So, you're from California?"

"NorCal, let's be clear. There's really no comparison between the lush forest moon of Endor and the post-apocalyptic streets of Blade Runner." Fitzy got a little too excited in his defense of his hometown's natural beauty. He'd let his breathing get irregular. He was going to pay for that with a stitch in his side later. _'__Calm down, nerd-o. Breathe! You are perfectly capable of prating nonsense and distance running at the same time, __**without**__ hyperventilating.__'_

_'This is my kind of fun.' _Ryan wasn't having any trouble with the pace and keeping his cool during an engaging conversation. "Ewok country then?"

"Isn't the resemblance clear?" Fitzy fluffed up the kinky curls of his hereditary fro and imitated blowfish cheeks.

Ryan chuckled. _'__A sci-fi nut with a sense of humor? I__'__m feeling more at home on aggro-island all the time.__' _Kev took stock of the programmer's appearance."You're a little tall for a Star Wars teddy bear."

Fitz paused. _'Oh, there are so many choices for a retort. Shall I riff off of 'You're a little short for a storm trooper'? Possibly with a reference to Ryan's height? He can't be more than an inch or two taller than me. Hmm..a little obvious. Maybe I should shift the conversation to Frodo? Test the limits of the detective's geekdom.' _He shrugged,"Every generation gets a little taller, right?"

Kevin laughed again. '_Maybe coming here wasn__'__t such a stupid idea after all. Not __**everyone**__ here would rather talk machine guns than ray guns.__' _"So, what brings the next generation of _Hobbitses_ on 'nasty adventures' like this?"

Fitz wasn't gonna mention the real reason to his new acquaintance. He'd rather flat out lie than touch on the subject of 'love-at-first-sight' with someone as handsome as Kevin. He was determined to keep his response acidic.

The LA transplant recalled the row of no less than 8 fitness centers lining the two blocks that lead to his new penthouse in North Hollywood. No matter what time of day or night he came home, NoHo sidewalks were flooded with pedestrians tightly wrapped in lycra spandex. When Fitzy was too drunk to drive home, he'd been guilty of yelling out the window of his cab, "Alright already, buns of steel! We get it. Now put some clothes on!"

His business partner warned him not to buy there, but the upscale neighborhoods were maddening insipid, as far as he could tell, and no less body-conscious. If he had to 'go urban,' he wanted something with a little more character. Aside from being a superior investment value for the money he was forking over, and the ability to design the specs himself, his newly built high-rise was within walking distance of a joint purveying the messiest, juiciest, fattest hamburgers he'd ever tasted. It was love at first bite.

"Would you believe that 'the scene' in Los Angeles is actually more body-obsessed than the Jarheads here? This is a vacation compared to the some of the shark-infested waters of my new hood."

Ryan considered correcting the programmer for using a term generally used for Marines to describe Army and Special Forces veterans, but who cared? '_No need to ward off the first really interesting person I__'__ve met here with a know-it-all response in the first five minutes.__'_ It was gonna be a long week, Ryan was more interested in allies who could aid his diversionary tactics. "What made you move south then?"

"NorCal is pop's territory. He's a LucasArts guy. And once I had a 'falling out' with my peeps at twitter, I thought it was a good idea for both of us if I created some distance. So, I jumped on a different kind of opportunity. It just so happened to be located in SoCal." That was the super-abridged vanilla version of the 'global thermal nuclear war-game' of corporate espionage that went down, but it would most likely satisfy a non-techie.

"What the hell is that?" Kevin pointed to the hideous triangular building reflecting the light in a minty eggshell green.

"Yeah, that's what your writer friend has coined 'Emerald City.' Kinda catchy. I like to think of them as the folks developing the future of war, while I, on the other side of the island, am programming the future of peace." _'__Oh, that sounded corny when said out loud. Why did shit always sound better in one__'__s head? Being socially awkward is definitely a disease. If only I could code a cure.__' _

Silence was the most polite response Kev could come up with.

Fitz attempted to play it cooler. "I could tell you more about what I do, but then I'd have to kill you."

"Naturally."

'_Whew, he graciously accepted my lame save? Very decent of him.' _

Ryan scanned the tall edifices with their shining frosted windows. _'Where are the people?'_ He didn't see anything resembling life, or any movement for that matter. His research had already sparked his imagination, turning the compound into an earthbound space station complete with robotic security guards and hovercraft surveillance. He would have been _**less**_ surprised to find the Millennium Falcon parked in the courtyard.

"So, what have you seen of this place?" Ryan motioned in the direction of the buildings. "Any lasers? Maybe target practice?"

"No. I think Castle has seen something. But the Master Sergeant keeps us on a pretty tight leash."

Kevin had seen blueprints. He knew the island had the capacity to hold a lot of people for an extended stay, certainly more than were in evidence as they ran by. He started to question whether the engineers he interviewed had thrown him off the trail by giving him falsified info. "Ever seen people? Maybe researchers, security personnel?"

Fitz' face drained of all color as they rounded the bend and came across a view that only the farthest stretch of the long range run would afford. He'd only seen this part of the trail once before, but it was at night on the Friday he'd earned his name. Now, in the light of afternoon sun, he could see so much more.

And he immediately wished he hadn't.

"Not until now." He turned to Kevin white as a sheet. "I don't think we should be here." Fitz stopped and started backing up the trail in the direction that they came.

Ryan turned to see what was freaking out his new friend. A mass of bodies, both men and women, mostly with tanned skin and dark hair, were piled in an ugly grave behind a chain link fence. There were maybe 20 figures in total, some very decayed, some looking as though they had passed in the last few weeks.

Fitzy grabbed Kevin's hand and drug the detective backwards as hard and fast as he could. Filled with adrenaline, they both started running back up the trail. Ryan was acting on instinct to protect Fitz and get him out of there, having zero back-up.

After about 3 minutes of running at full speed, Ryan slammed into Beckett running the opposite way.

"Jesus Christos." Ryan pronounced his third commandment trespass with the 'J' turned 'H' of a Spanish accent for some reason.

"Whoa, Ryan, are you okay?" Kate panted from her running exertion. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Almost. But I don't think we should go back and check."

"Go back and check what? Ryan, what did you see?" Kevin looked more shaken than the day he proposed to Jenny in the bullpen.

Fitz chimed in, "Mini-Auschwitz. Or maybe I hallucinated that..." He turned toward Kevin, searching the constellated stardust of his mesmerizing blue eyes. "...Tell me I didn't just see that. Tell me I've been playing too much Ravenloft. Tell me we can hit restart and go back to game presets at level one."

Kevin felt terrible for Fitzy. He remembered all too well the first horrific crime scene he needed to tag for evidence as a rookie detective. He'd run to the restroom to eject his lunch after just a few minutes. The gore was one thing, but the dark vacant look in the victims' eyes, that always got Kev. Still did, but only Espo noticed it now. He'd gotten really practiced at focusing just to the left of anything that he wasn't desensitized to.

Ryan dipped his chin so that he could look up into his new friend's eyes and placed hands on either side of the man's shoulders, since he looked like he might pass out.

"Listen to me, Fitz. What's your real name?"

"Cordon. Cordie Wheeler." He was dazed and frantic, barely hearing Ryan's voice inside his own panic.

"Cordie. Listen to me. This is Detective Katherine Beckett. She's the best homicide detective I've ever met, and she's a very good resource in situations like these. I've seen her make sense of senseless violence more times than I can count. Do you think you can calm down long enough to let her ask us some questions?"

Fitzy nodded his head blankly, giving into Ryan's lead, trying to open his ears enough to receive questions.

Detective Beckett was more than alarmed listening to that kind of intro from Kevin. "Ryan, what's going on here?"

The Irishmen put on the calmest face he could manage and straightened his spine. "Detective Beckett, I believe we've just become witnesses in a murder investigation."

\o/

* * *

**__****_Welcome JKOVE24 & sammysgirl78!_**

**_Exceedingly grateful for each of you coming along on this adventure. Thanks, in particular, to GeekMom for making me sounds smarter than I am with her grammar beta bomb. Plus, CharacterDriven, Concreteangel16, FuelDH206, Southerngirl1, JaimeSpencer4, & Teambromance for reviews. _**

**_Next up: Dead bodies. The best investigative unit on the Eastern seaboard. Zero legal guidelines. Now what?_**


	15. Chapter 15

"Kate, what happened?" Castle's face transformed when he saw her features graven.

There were times when Katherine Beckett wished she'd woken up as someone else. Someone who didn't need to 'speak for the dead.' Didn't need to carry their secrets, and find their killers, and above all claw at the questions until they'd released all their unseemly facts to her.

Where the beach trail met base camp, Kate stood silently for a moment, staring into her fiancé's blissfully ignorant eyes.

Irrefutably, however, that's who she was: the one who put clear labels of evidence and culpability on all that ugly. It was all the beauty she wanted to bring to the world.

"Are you okay?" Rick pressed.

Being that person left so many things out of reach for her. So many things she couldn't say 'yes' to, because she knew that when it came down to it, she'd be willing to sacrifice them for just one more lead, one more shred of mystery solved.

Castle watched Ryan lead Fitzy to his cabin.

It wasn't about ego for her, though she was very proud of the good work her team did, and how hard she'd worked to reach her position. For Beckett, the actual solving of the mystery was an urge, like a dragon's urge to protect treasure or to breathe fire. She just _**needed**_ to know. She needed to figure it out and bring the persons responsible to lawful reckoning.

The writer motioned to the men passing them, his alarm increasing. "They don't look good, Kate."

The cases she handled weren't just a series of proxies for her mother's murder that she wished she could solve instead. They were each an expression of her primal need to wring all the deception out of the evidence and drip dry the plain truth on the clothesline of justice.

As Rick searched her face for explanation, Detective Beckett's empty hands dropped to her sides. Unconsciously, her palms turned toward Castle.

She didn't look down on people who had other concerns driving them. In fact, on days like that one, she envied them their worries. She was tempted to trade her burdens for anyone else's concerns about the most inane political struggles over the perfect carpool schedule and PTA agenda.

"You guys didn't see ray-guns without me, did you?"

Alright, well, maybe not _**anyone**__**'**__**s **_concerns, but she certainly wasn't interested in the weight of the mystery pressing her heavily into the sand, one with a bigger body count than list of witnesses, and no jurisdiction of any kind to back her up.

She had no idea what they had stumbled upon, but there were no answers to be had that would lead down an easy path. That much was clear.

"Castle, we've got a problem."

\o/

* * *

"Kent, you're gonna have to do better than that if you want me to keep my Uncle Charlie out of this discussion."

Kai-Rhee was on the war-path. Her polite call to her benefactor on the advisory board of the research facility where Fitz and Detective Ryan had seen a pile of corpses was merely a formality. She was giving him a chance to talk her down off the ledge of full scale unsanctioned privatized war that her rage was about to unleash. But frankly, Kent Clarkson was doing a shitty job of deescalating her fury with his unconvincing claims of 'no prior knowledge.'

Clarkson owed her. Not just for the man of steel abs she helped him find as her client, or for the butterfly stroke those abs perfected, or the swim meets he'd won with those strokes, or the third wife he brought home because of all the power they afforded his other kind of 'stroke,' his debt was bigger than all of that.

Kent needed contacts on the island, ones that weren't connected to the politics inside his organization. Evans agreed to keep watch.

What made Kai-Rhee a standout candidate was the firepower she afforded Clarkson. She had specialties that no hired hand could offer if unforeseen circumstances were to arise.

"I don't give a rat's ass about research funding protocol. I'm talking about humans. Dead ones. And more than a few. You asked me to be your eyes and ears here. You never asked me to be _**blind**_ eyes and _**deaf**_ ears. I can assure you that is** not** part of Krypton's First Information Operations Command."

Esposito was a little worried that one of two unfortunate turns was about to happen in their heated exchange. Number 1, the person on the other end of the line, who obviously had a vested interest, would gain the upper hand because she was showing too many of her cards. Or Number 2, Kai-Rhee might find a way to metaphysically **eat** the man through the phone line. In his mind, he crossed himself to ward off the fate of ever being on the receiving end of that kind of conniption from the Valkyrie.

"Try again, Gromit!" she invoked his Valkyrie-given name.

'_Oh shit, she__'__s escalating. This is going all wrong.__' _Esposito considered whether interfering was worth the risk. He felt like she needed to stop and hold back whatever flags she hadn't already raised. His job as a detective had taught him more strategy then he had as a foot soldier. He knew the Master Sergeant had the same capability to find the right time and place for maximum effect, but their current situation seemed to have her hawking like she was on the front lines again. "Maybe we should…"

Kai-Rhee waved Javi off.

Espo became very nervous that he was witnessing the collapse of the good thing Evans had going on the island. Even though he knew that he and Kevin had nothing to do with that, he still couldn't help feeling like his presence had set off a grenade in her life somehow.

"Is that the best you can do? Think hard, _**Kent**_."

'_She__'__s drawn her line. No going back now.__' _Realizing that things would never be the same for her made Javier feel tangled, not really trapped, because he wasn't trying to escape from her, and he couldn't imagine leaving until it all got sorted. But the easy out pass of a weekend booty call that he could conveniently fly home from was fast retreating into the distance. Neither of them would be able to go back to their lives as if nothing had changed. The simple option was off the table.

Instead of a week made of fantasy, with Ryan's discovery, shit got real. And fast.

\o/

* * *

Kai-Rhee and Hoax decided it would be best to keep Simon in the dark, if they could, until after his Tuesday night ritual of campfire cook out. Especially since neither of them knew how to handle the news when it came to Cannon, Kreuger, Balboa and Creed. Obviously, the clients would be going home, but Evans needed more information to understand what to do about the rest of camp.

She wired the boat captain and asked him to stay docked until after their meal, so that he could take back the other campers with him to the mainland.

Clang. Clang. Clang. Clang. Simon rang the metal bell hanging with his soup pot.

'_Where is he?__' _When Fitz didn't come out of his cabin at chow time, Kreuger slunk off into the darkness to see why. His shadow never missed a mealtime, especially one made over an open flame. The meager man boasted that people in his neck of the woods would eat almost anything grilled over a campfire. Furthermore, he'd informed the group that the weather where he grew up, on the beatific coastline north of San Francisco, afforded the opportunity for cooking and eating out-of-doors during most of the year, so really that was the only thing his family would consider 'real food.' The carcinogenic properties of charred meat notwithstanding, Fitzy basically lived for Simon's feasts all week.

Even though Kreuger was usually too wrapped up in his own problems to be very helpful to others, he'd come to rely on Fitz' presence as a touchstone of 'normalcy,' if such a thing even existed anymore. It wasn't that such a computer dork could be considered 'normal' by anyone's standards, but he was _consistent_, and _creative_, and _tenacious_ in his constant attempts to scratch out a patch of Kai-Rhee's world for himself.

That made him all the things that Kreuger's addiction had strip-mined from his life.

The goth still had no idea what on earth was keeping Fitz in a place with so little wifi and so many sit-ups. But Kreuger didn't think that was unusual since _**a lot**_ flew by him. He spent so much of his energy trying to ignore unhelpful mind chatter, and heave his thoughts onto the very few things he believed could make a difference. To Kreuger, it was a wonder that he noticed anyone besides himself at all. Most days, just being conscious and straight-edged was an exhausting effort.

\o/

* * *

Wheeler jumped when he heard three knocks at his door. After an embarrassing gasp, he recognized a tall dark silhouette though the screen. "Uhhh, yes?" He really had no precedent for Kreuger coming to find him. He guessed it was an errand from Kai-Rhee.

"You alright, man?"

"Uhhh, I think so." Well, there was no good way to say, _'__Fucking __'__no__'__! I__'__m not alright. No one should be alright after seeing a mass grave.__' _And he didn't know if anyone else at camp knew about what he and Kevin had seen.

"It's Tuesday. Simon's grilling. Are you sick or something?"

'_He__'__s come to check on me? He noticed that I__'__m a fan of Nigerian stew? Wait. He noticed that I__'__m alive?_' The programmer attempted to stuff his shock inside a voice that sounded cooler than he felt. "Not sick, just a little shaken up. You wanna come in?"

"Nah. I just thought I should check to see if you needed something." He hesitated before adding, "It's a small island, if we don't look out for each other, who will? Right?"

"Right." Fitz couldn't believe his ears. "Well…thanks."

After hearing the most amount of words that his walking fixation had ever addressed to him directly, Wheeler's world wobbled. _'And what words! Kind, considerate, even implying appreciation for all the times I've tried to bail him out. Oh, I__'__m a goner now! Not even tragedy could keep me outta love with this stupid dude. Even if he turns out to be straighter than a quiver full of speedy green arrows. Oh fate, you cruel mistress!__'_

\o/

* * *

"Folks, listen up. I need your full undivided attention."

The entire group of 6 clients, 3 NYPD detectives, and 2 trainers stopped whatever they were doing. Kai-Rhee didn't need to ask for their full attention, after she addressed them as 'folks.' As soon as she began her sentence by calling them something other than 'grunts' or 'maggots' or worst 'gentlemen' emphasis on the 'not-fit-to-lick-my-boots,' everyone was all ears. They put what was left of their second helpings down and settled their drinks into the sand, nervously.

Evans stood in front of the campfire so that everyone in the circle could hear her. "The supply boat is still docked, and tonight I expect every one of you to be on it when it leaves."

"Wha?" The exclamation jumped out of Cannon's mouth before he could check it.

"Our situation has changed here. And although I still have more questions than answers about security on this island, I cannot have you underfoot while I ascertain the true nature of the threat."

Kreuger felt a dark purple line of fear slicing him open. _'__I can__'__t go home. Not now. I__'__m not __'__done__' __yet!__'_ He was much better, but not ready to leave Kai-Rhee. _'__Why is she kicking us out?__' _

"There will be no further discussion on this matter. If I had more answers, I would offer some to you." She briefly met the gaze of every person present. "Until such time, your only task is to gather your belongings and get them packed on the shuttle by 21:00 hours."

She called more loudly, "Am I coming through?"

"Crystal clear, Master Sergeant," all her grunts sounded in unison.

\o/

* * *

Hoax and Kai-Rhee locked themselves inside the walk-in freezer for their 'discussion,' read argument, about her unilateral decision to shut him out of whatever she was planning to do next. The cool of the freezer was the closest thing to air-conditioning at camp. They often had their meetings inside.

"Chica Galactica, you goin' too far with this Mad Max one-woman-army bullshit. I hope you know I'm not loading myself on any boat tonight, or any time before we know what's up with our landlord's science fair projects."

"Lieutenant Horatio Camacho, I'm giving you a direct order to get your ass on that boat, and leave me here to deal with my business."

"Don't chu dare Lieutenant Camacho me! Uncle Tio does what he damn well pleases!" He slammed his massive fist on the stainless steel island at the center of the freezer. "Especially since we ain't in no Army no more, Mizzzzzz Evans."

Towering almost two feet over her head still barely made their stare down an even match. Hoax was trying his best man-face, but it couldn't manage to generate enough stone cold to compete with the ice queen who'd made up her mind and made her decree.

When she didn't budge an inch, he continued, "And who says it's _your_ business anymore? I been putting in just as much sweat equity since day one. And don't tell me that doesn't count for something. You don't even have a lease! So don't pull that legal entity bull crap with me."

They both knew that she would never expect his sizable paychecks to cover all of his investment. Handshakes meant more to her than contracts. They had shaken on a lot more than his taking over the food services and weekend entertainment.

She softened. "Hoaxy, I don't know what kinda ugly I'm gonna find over there. But I can't just walk away. I've poured too much in. I shouldn't have. I knew it while it was happening. I made a bad decision, several of them, over time. But I'm not gonna have you walk that dark path with me. I gotta do this alone."

"No, you don't." Roc was standing in the doorway in front of the latch that wasn't as locked as they'd thought.

Hoax turned away from his head-on horn lock with Kai-Rhee, calling "Thank you! Someone's gotta talk some sense into this death-eater!"

Her Roc came at her directly, but approached respectfully, in hopes that she could still hear him. "Listen, I know you don't want to hear this. Believe me, I don't want to be the one to say it. But, this is **not** something you do alone. And you don't get to decide who wants to stand with you on this."

Roc's body matched her ferocity, but his words invoked all the humility he'd gained as a detective. "Those bodies down there don't need a lone vigilante. And you don't need a new war to fight. They need justice. They need someone to be able to share the end of their story with their families, and the people who care about them. And whether you like it or not, you do too."

He straightened and readjusted his eyes from something so intense they would pin her down and make her listen, to an offering of a choice. Esop shifted his body language to allow her enough room to accept while maintaining her dignity, offering simply, "That's why I'll be standing right next to you, as **we** figure this out."

She tried one more objection but Esposito cut her off. "I..."

"Uhn, uh, you don't _**own**_ vengeance. Those people down there, and God-forbid anyone else headed toward their same fate, need more than just you looking out for them. If we gonna set things right, we need more than a Valkyrie claiming the fallen."

'_Fuuuuck. Why did I ever bring him here? I__'__d have Hoax on that boat in 30 minutes with all the clients.__'_ Simon was another story, but he wouldn't cause her any trouble. But her Roc? _'__Argh! It__'__s like trying to argue with my own damn self!__' _She couldn't win.

Javier wanted to hold her, to take some of the pain that the whole mess was causing her, but he knew she'd sooner eat him than accept it. He settled for offering an open palm laid on the table in front of them. He stared at his own hand expectantly, knowing that direct eye contact when she was attempting to back down would trash all the convincing he'd just done.

"Hrrnnnrrhhh!" Without parting her lips, she let a growl scrape up the back of her throat and let that be the end of her frustration at his case well made.

Kai-Rhee closed her right hand over his and squeezed. Her mind was feeling anything but thankful for his intrusion, but her body was already so grateful to not be alone.

Hoax let the pact settle only a moment before he ushered them out of his frozen office. "Now let's go do this."

\o/

* * *

As the three vets spilled out into the kitchen, they found Ryan, Beckett and Castle pouring over blueprints rolled out over the large kitchen chopping block at the center of the room.

"Now what are you 3 doing here? Didn't I give an order to get your bags packed? I _**will **_make you swim back if you miss that boat, Nermal."

Rick started, "Nermal? When'd I get my name back?" Suddenly, his own ego was momentarily more important than mass murderers.

"Since you took on the tree, and the bush, and the hounds. Even though you lost the Frisbee, you certainly committed to the full adventure. Well done."

Rick danced his spine back and forth in victory, sing-songing a juvenile tone, "I knew it would all be worth it eventually!" Promotions came with privilege. He narrowed his eyebrows to return a little of the hazing Kev had dished out earlier, gloating, "Now Ryan's the only guy here without a _**real grunt **_name."

"I'm just fine with that." Ryan locked eyes with Castle to make sure he got the full effect, "Where do you you think _**yours**_ came from…Kitten?"

Mortified, Rick turned to Kai-Rhee, "Is that…?"

"Yeah, it was Kevin's inspirational message that gave me the idea. Fits perfectly, I thought. Your friends know you well."

Slightly deflated, Castle realized the infamy of the Nermal moniker and it's origins with a certain junior detective would be following him back to the 12th precinct.

Beckett was trying not to spoil their fun. If they could still be having a good time in their situation, she envied them for that. "Guys, hate to interrupt, but ya know, unidentified remains in shallow graves…?"

Ryan jumped back into the explanation he had started earlier, pointing at the scroll, "Right. See here? This is like a hive of residential units. Each ring can hold maybe 20-30 inhabitants for extended periods. They're designed to be long term living quarters."

Beckett questioned, "I didn't see anything shaped like this during our run, there was a triangular high rise and a series of rectangular buildings. Do you think this hive is inside one of the larger structures?"

"The scale seems off from what I saw, but I suppose it could be underneath one of them."

Evans didn't think that theory was worth pursuing. "Not likely, islands, man-made or otherwise, don't usually have enough stability to go without their anchors to the seabed. Drilling a 'basement' of this size would destabilize the whole island."

Esposito tried to move them along. "Well, wherever it is, it was built to hold a whole lotta people for a whole lotta time. So where are they? Why haven't we seen them? Hoax, you seen anything?"

"Nah, but it's not me we should be asking. Simon's the one who would know."

Kai-Rhee nodded in agreement. Her voice dropped in a more somber tone. "I bet he's checking it out right now." She prayed that his knack for treetop invisibility would serve him well, and she'd be seeing him again real soon, unscathed.

Castle prompted, "So, let's go ask Simon."

"He's not out there."

Castle didn't get it. "Why, where'd he go?"

"Couldn't tell you."

Rick became even more confused. "But you gave a direct order?"

"Yeah, those never really apply to Simon. Though he often complies just to be helpful."

"Tell me about it." Hoax rolled his eyes. He couldn't argue with Simon's helpfulness, but it was kind of grating that his co-worker had never experienced the 'unique pleasure' of their fearsome boss in a direct-chain-of-command way. On Krypton, Kai-Rhee had softened, but in the early days in the desert, _'Ooo whee she could put my nuts in a rucksack.'_

"Wait, what are you getting at? Isn't Simon from your platoon? I assumed he was Allied Forces, like Hoax."

"Nope."

Castle questioned his observations: French, multi-lingual, lethal combat and camouflage skills, uber-talented in torturing recruits. _'__How did I miss a detail like this?__'_

Esposito's alarm grew._ 'Who **was** this person who she had allowed to get so close to her?'_ "So, who is he then?"

"Actually, it's not entirely clear who he is. But I can tell you a little of what he's done."

The room filled with expectant eyes. Roc's especially gave her the encouragement to share the story finally after years of silence.

"Simon was on the transport the day I sustained my injury," They all nodded. This was expected. She turned to Roc, "But not as a soldier, as a detainee."

"What?" Espo's protectiveness threatened to detonate. Just what kind of risks had she been taking since her father died? He doubted the Commander would stand for something like this.

"He escaped in the confusion after the blast. We picked him up for arms trafficking. A low level agent, but unwilling to inform on his connections, so we were taking him back for further questioning." It had occurred to her only years later that Simon didn't need to be caught unless he wanted to. He was most likely intending to pick up info about their base by allowing himself to be seen.

"After my surgery, I spent a lot of time in a hospital cot. I might have gone insane with the inactivity, especially since my legs worked just fine."

Hoax filled in, "Is that when they brought me in to threaten to sedate or cuff you, if you didn't rest?"

She nodded. "Luckily neither of those were necessary because I found something interesting left on my windowsill."

Richard so wanted to ask if her friends had staged a play-acted murder across the street for her to figure out while she recuperated. _'__Still the coolest birthday present of all time!__'_ But then he realized her story wasn't over.

"It was from Simon. And each day, sometimes several times a day, I would find new additions. Some were silly like a button that said, 'Don't tread on me.' Some more serious: books, poems, one time he left the painkillers that my nurse forgot to administer before she went off duty."

Hoax complained, "I didn't know that." Apparently, there were a lot of holes missing from the story he'd heard.

She summed up, "Even after I recovered, Simon's never been farther than an arm's reach when I've needed him." She turned to the big man, who was now looking remorseful that he hadn't cut the Nigerian more slack, "He's even helped me save _your_ ass more than once."

"Fallujah?"

"Yep."

"I knew it! And you let us all believe that you could walk through walls."

"Would the men have preferred the truth?"

He thought about it. Valkyrie's inexplicable and legendary powers had made them all feel lucky, like they could tilt the odds in their favor. He wouldn't have deprived the other men of that. It had helped a lot. He admitted, "Guess not."

"When I came stateside, I figured that'd be the last time I'd see Simon. But he showed up at my doorstep on the third day," She turned to Roc, adding, "Left that CD for me."

"Every month, I think, 'Alright, the debt is paid. There's no reason for him to keep hanging around.' In fact, maybe tonight's the night he'll go back to whatever life he had, or create a new one."

"That's incredible." Richard Castle had never employed so many over-used adjectives in all his life. Maybe there was something to the BMI to verbal acuity ratio Ryan kept teasing him about.

Word choice aside, the writer's mind felt ablaze with the literary possibilities of her tale. Though he wondered if a fiction writer could pull it off. He could already hear Gina, his publisher/ex-wife, admonishing that the plot lacked 'believability.' Maybe it was the seed of the creative _**non-**_fiction that he'd always dreamed of writing, bringing him the ever-elusive Edna Staebler Award. Sadly, the entries needed to have a geographic connection to Staebler's home country. As he sketched out the work's likely trajectory, Rick lamented, _'__If only I were Canadian!__'_

\o/

* * *

_**Thanks to GM & all my distracting/hilarious Twitter friends #WeAimToMakeHiatusFun **_

_**Next up: Mystery, Bromance and Caskett kisses, who**__**'**__**s in? **_


	16. Chapter 16

Richard Castle needed to feel Katherine Beckett in his arms. He knew her mind was awhirl with the mystery that had them both reeled into it's grasp. But this wasn't the 12th precinct, and while he knew that his role as 'protector' in their impending marriage would look very different than his previous relationships, he still needed to check in.

As she stepped into the dark night, she startled to the sound of his whispered voice.

"Kate."

As the group filed out of the kitchen past her, they mounted the path that lead back to the Tuesday evening bonfire to find the others. Before she could follow, Rick grabbed her hand and pulled her into the shadows.

"Castle?"

Without giving her a chance to object, he stole a long kiss. He let all his worry and concern about corpses and whomever had piled them on the other side of the island transform into cherishing her very safe-and-sound embodiment. His tongue spoke to hers with sweet adoration, conveying volumes more than his clever lexicon ever could.

"Mmm…" Katherine melted for a moment, even though she had been busy scribbling notes on her mental white board, so that she could hold onto all the leads they had. She gave into his taste, his smell, and most of all the fully consuming attention of his kiss.

When Richard Edgar Castle wanted to show her that his love was worthy of her attention, he could kiss her as if the rest of the known universe had imploded in on itself and their embrace was the only thing that still existed.

It was one of _**those**_ kisses. Katherine got lost in it. Without a star map, she couldn't imagine how she'd ever get home.

"Hmm. Mmm…"

She wasn't sure how long they'd been locked together, the concept of time seemed archaic in their embrace.

Eventually Rick pulled away from her lips, leaving Kate to wobble a little on her feet. She wondered if one of those imploded universes had made its way into her hip girdle. It felt like something celestial had gone supernova inside her.

"Uhh…" Still dazed, she wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself. She tried to find her bookmark in the thoughts that had consumed her focus before he'd erased them. "What's with the romance, Castle?"

Usually, Rick was her twin in terms of turning off the libido light switch until after the mystery was solved. It was an essential part of their chemistry, since other men she'd dated failed miserably on that count. Why they couldn't understand that total focus on finding murder weapons and breaking lying suspects was not compatible with getting lost in romantic thoughts was quite beyond her.

"Well, I don't think I need a special reason to kiss my fiancé, but I do want to ask you something."

"Mmm-hmmm?" Swirls of stardust were still collecting in the corners of her mouth.

"Should we be on that boat leaving the island tonight?"

As she weighed the question, her inner-cop dutifully returned. "You're probably right. We probably should be. We should be taking Ryan and Esposito home with us, too." She thought about Jenny, and Sarah Grace, and Lanie, and even Gates. If something happened to any one on her team, the consequences would be fairly unimaginable. They each risked their lives for a job and a city they loved. But in Kate's mind, she would do the same thing in any city, even in one without a government to protect it.

What she did for people, the small amount of peace she could bring, was a calling to serve the greater good, an honor really.

Rick searched her eyes. He could see she wasn't done confessing.

"But… I just need to know what happened to those people. Once we figure it out, I'll be on the first boat home."

"_**We**__**'**__**ll**_ be on the first boat home. Mysterious mass grave? On a lawless island? With laser guns? I wouldn't miss a case like this for a ride in a Firefly-class transport ship."

\o/

* * *

"We're not going! And you can't make us!" Cannon lobbed the impudent protests over to his Master Sergeant while hiding safely behind Hoax' massive frame.

She looked to Kreuger, who said determinedly, "Staying."

'_Well at least Fitz will welcome the excuse to leave.__' _Kai-Rhee's eyes met the programmer's and they shared a moment of bored 'can-you-believe-these-youngin's?' even though numerically Fitzy wasn't much older than the other two.

"'Fraid you're not getting rid of me either." He wanted to explain that his insane idea to remain was mostly Kreuger's fault with, _'__If he stays, I stay!__'_ But he chickened out. And truthfully, it was the image of the bodies that was haunting him. _'How could I sleep in my privileged LA life without doing **something**? At the very least, I can use my technical skills to help them figure out what had happened. They need me.'_

The Valkyrie wasn't done with their conversation, but she could be patient. As long as everyone stayed at base camp, they had the bunker, and protection. _'At least Balboa and Creed will be two less to worry about.'_ She headed toward their cabins to check on their packing progress.

\o/

* * *

When she got to the door, Adnan held up a finger that cross-sectioned his lips to signal silence.

Kai-Rhee's eyebrows lifted. '_Now we__'__ve really let the whole chain-of-command thing tumble out the window, haven__'__t we?__'_

Creedon tapped on his headset and pointed to the bat-eared contraption he'd set up on the table. He was adjusting the dials at the base very slowly.

She folded her arms in front of her chest in a very 'loudly' unspoken,_ 'Why aren't you packing?' _

Delphi ushered her down the steps away from Bob's delicate work. "Sensei, with all the greatest respect for your superior training regimen, I think you'll find that our services will be of greater value to you, than yours have been to us. Fitzy filled us in on his discovery today." His eyes offered flattery. "I'm sure a leader of your caliber is well aware that intel can be better at protecting lives than firepower. And that is what we can offer you. If Creed finds what he is looking for, you may not need a single other precaution to get your answers, and keep everyone safe."

At least, the champs offered better news than the twenty-somethings had. She uncrossed her arms and shoved them in her pockets to keep her frustration from showing in her clenched fists.

"If I may, we do have a small request. If you could see fit to engage the communications tower, we might be a little faster in our work. I'm sure you'd like a speedy resolution."

\o/

* * *

Esposito opened the door to Kai-Rhee's home amongst the canopy of mahogany and palm trees. Ryan brought his bag inside.

"Restroom's through there." Noting Kevin's wary pan of the small quarters and total lack of guest room accommodations, let alone a privacy wall in the open floor plan, Espo lightened the mood with a smug smile. "And don't worry. She changed all the sheets."

Familiar banter gave the Irishmen a chance to flip on his sardonic tone of voice. "So comforting. Thanks." Kev was glad to be with his best friend again. Today had been rough after that fateful run.

"Hey, listen, we'd offer you the deck or the beach, but you need to rest your back. And hers is really the only decent mattress in the compound." Javi's lecherous smile said, _'__Believe me, I tested.__'_

Ryan rolled his eyes as an involuntary smirk fought it's way across his face. "Yeah, yeah, the less I know the better."

"And, bro, you gotta check out this view!" Javier pulled back the curtains and wrenched open the sliding glass door, so they could step out onto the deck that faced the water. Over treetops painted with silvery light, they could see the shoreline, the waves and the reflection of the waxing moon.

Kevin's sarcasm introduced him to island living. "Wow, I can see why you were so quick to call me back over the weekend. You must have missed me something awful with all this boring scenery."

"Well, you're here now."

"Yeah." Kevin didn't sound happy about that at all.

"So, you alright? You still seem pretty shaken up. You know, we can handle this. You don't need to stay. You can get on that boat and go home to New York."

Kevin forced himself to take a deep inhale.

'_Just how shaken is he?__'_ Espo attempted a weak old joke as both diversion and test. "Just don't head to any of my old neighborhoods, and you'll be fairly safe from running into another pile of unaccounted for stiffs."

The crack stole a little exhale of tension from Kevin's throat. Going back to his empty apartment certainly sounded safer, but no less lonely. Even if Jenny and Sarah Grace came home early, which he would never ask, the feeling in his chest was the kind of thing his partner was a better antidote for anyway.

"Can't go, Espo." He stared off at the constantly rearranging patterns on the water's surface. "Remember the woman on the ceiling, the one bound up with barbwire by that psychopath?"

Esposito nodded. Luckily that case had been unique, though not by much.

"Remember her eyes? The horror? They had eyes like that. Not all of them were open, thankfully." He turned to look at the man who knew him best. "But there were a lot of eyes."

"Alright, bro. I get it. But I'm not letting you get near that place. You understand? You and Beckett and Castle are here to help us get some answers, but if further action is required…" He trailed off, unwilling to think about what Kai-Rhee might do if the answers they got didn't have acceptable paths to recourse. "I'm not letting your skinny ass put itself in any more danger, understood?"

"We'll see…" Ryan returned his eyes to the water. He certainly had no interest in looking for trouble. But he could feel the talons of something bigger than himself already hooked inside his will. Just like the day Siobhan walked back into his life providing the real-life slap across the face that his own conscience had given him every time he thought about what he had left unfinished between them. Those faces seemed symbolic to him, like a second chance.

For Kevin, the pile of lifelessness that had confronted him earlier harkened to the 20 or so cases he'd never managed to solve over his career. If he were faster, or sharper, maybe he'd have been able to dig up all the details that were needed to solve those cases. Maybe the mystery at hand offered a chance to redeem his restless conscience.

Javier produced the last 2 remaining beers from the weekend's festivities which he'd wisely stashed in Kai-Rhee's fridge. "You're not getting angsty on me, are ya?"

Ryan knew **guilt** over the handful of unsolved mysteries on his record was irrational. Their team had successfully solved well over a hundred cases just in the time since Castle joined them.

Espo popped the tops off both bottles, using only the heel of his hand and the lip of the railing. He handed one to the guy who had his back no matter what.

As Kev welcomed the cool glass, wet with condensation, into his anxious grasp, he chalked up his mental overactivity to a vestigial trait left by well-meaning nuns at school. He considered his Catholic propensity to assume responsibility for things well outside his sphere of influence a tithe. Perhaps it repaid some debt for the many useful things the sisters had taught him, like his ability to take orders from women like Beckett and Gates (and Jenny) with a lot more ease than his co-workers.

Javi tried again to poke Kev out of his self-torture with a little teasing. "Cause Kai-Rhee might not take kindly to your staying in her place, if you're gonna 'get in touch with your feelings.'"

'_Thank the stars that Javi__'__s here with me this time.__' _Ryan really didn't want to get drawn into something so dangerous without his partner. He'd dredged up the power to salvage Siobhan's life on his own, because he owed her, but it was so much easier to feel brave and bold with Esposito standing next to him. Kev was more likely to imagine himself an invincible super-friend side-by-side with his decorated, if comical, best friend.

"Nah, I'm good, bro." He clinked the neck of his bottle to Javi's.

Javier acknowledged with a nod before bringing the bottle to his lips, sucking down the first stinging bite of hops to his throat, to give his body the signal to disengage its hyperawareness. It was time to rest his vigilance for a moment.

Ryan smiled. He appreciated that Espo would never let him get too far down a dark hole alone, even if the lifeline he threw was biting sarcasm.

Someone 'upstairs' knew what they were doing when they cast their partnership.

Their backgrounds and personalities were so different, but they still had so much in common. It was a constant source of encouragement to Kevin as he watched the shrinking society of earth knot together into a global village. _'__Maybe the future will be a __**better**__ place. Sure, w__e__'__re losing our pasts, rich cultural heritage, mono-chrome societies where people knew you from cradle to grave, but we might be netting something better.' _Ryan realized,_ I'd never have the chance for a friend like Espo unless the world was changing for the better.__'_

\o/

* * *

Kai-Rhee saw the same thing the moment Javi pulled Kev in for a hug, but it was even more clear as she trudged up the path, marking them on her balcony as the night pushed the moon over the horizon. The two men standing beside each other embodied more than loyalty, more than trust. They stood for the 'what if's' she had been asking herself about things to come.

Evans hadn't relied on her special training to see the difference they'd made in each other. In fact, she was sure that their friendship could kindle an optimistic light for anyone who stopped to notice.

If Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan indicated the potential for the 'brotherhood of man' in a changing world, the future of the human race was looking a lot brighter than she, or anyone, had dared to hope.

* * *

_**To the bright lights in my online universe from Pakistan, to Belfast, to Mexico City, to New Zealand, to Canada, to all ports stateside: Miami, Seattle, Juniata, SoCal, NorCal, Texas, Maine and greater New York, et all, you holding it down tight! TeamBromance worldwide, love y'all. **_

_**Next up: The scientist, the super heroes, the sniper, the plan…But can Espo snaffle Castle long enough to keep his trouble-making hands off the goods?**_


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Apologies for mistakes made in haste to meet premier deadline. Your patience with my newbie prose skills (and OC's) has been exemplary. Here Beckett needs to throw in just a couple more, cause murders need suspects, right?**

* * *

"Excuse Me? Would you care to rephrase that?" General Clarence Byrd spoke calmly into his receiver. All six feet of his imposing countenance leaned back into his leather armchair, staring up at a larger-than-life-sized image of Roosevelt brandishing his firearm. Above the president's visage furled a banner that read, _'__Speak softly, and carry a big stick.__'_

The current chairman of the multi-national corporation conducting research on Kai-Rhee's island, was not in the habit of defending himself to anyone, even someone who sat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "Matthew Pietros Shepherd Carrion is a professional and world-class scientist whose reputation is beyond reproach!"

"Mmm-hm. I'm listening." Byrd waited.

"His research in theoretical physics is matched only by his brilliance in predictive algorithmic models for emerging markets." Chairman Benjamin Cour was quite sure of the scientist's genius. The evidence of such had raised the down payment on the very private island in question.

Ever since personal tragedy had re-shifted Matthew's focus to something that might directly effect the success of their military assets, the ruling board put a moratorium on anything that might interfere with the researcher's progress. The chairman had personally established the hands-off approach with which they would welcome Carrion's contributions at the first board meeting. When questions of protocol and standards inspections were raised, Chairman Cour silenced further discussions of red tape with a stern, _'__If you have a racehorse, let him run.__'_

"I'll not entertain a single inquiry or demurral. No doubt, his methods are want to confuse the mere mortals at his feet, but you'll find his character utterly impeccable."

The Big Byrd leveled a stern warning through the phone line. It wasn't yet time to set-off World War III, though he doubted that his adoptive niece would be so patient. "Chairman, I hope for your sake, that there is nothing but truth to that."

\o/

* * *

"No way! Castle could maybe pull off Batman, the gadgets and bankroll fit, but that would make Beckett his Robin, so that's a no-go." Ryan was high on his geek-a-zoid horse as he walked down the path toward mess hall early Wednesday morning.

"Man, you don't think she'd look slick in those green tights?" Espo was happier to tease Kev's imagination than defend his hastily drawn point.

"It's not about the outfits. If anyone's the sidekick in their duo, do you really think it's _Beckett_?"

Esposito couldn't argue with that, obviously Ricky was the sidekick if there had to be one. Sadly, Javi couldn't think of many examples of super-heroines with super-assistants. He had read enough to hold his own in their conversation, but his categorical research skills couldn't hold a candle to the likes of Kevin. For Esposito, memorizing obscure trivia would sap all the fun out of the comics he read when he was younger, while Ry seemed to thrive on it.

Espo happily ditched their argument for more entertainment. "What about us? Which sidekick would _**you **_be?"

"You've got to be kidding, right?" Kevin blocked Javier's progress with a hand to the older man's chest. "You're not gonna make me pull out the 'I-call-bullshit' face this early in the morning. Are you?"

Espo continued on undeterred, "Why? I'm sure you've got some little-known example that would fit our partnership perfectly, no?"

Kev ran to catch up. "Javi, when have you_ ever_ read the brilliant mastermind as the sidekick and his brawn as the hero?"

"Oh, come now, has it escaped your notice that _**the person kicking in the door**_ is the one that saves the day, while his fact-checker is busy fiddling with files and cleaning up the mess afterwards?"

Beckett and Evans interrupted their own conversation outside the kitchen door to listen to the boys' last few exchanges. They didn't have much choice in the matter since Ryan and Espo were almost shouting with excitement in their friendly debate.

Kai-Rhee asked Kate, "Are they always like this?"

"Sometimes much worse, kinda depends on which one of them is on their cycle."

Hearing that, Kev worried that Javi would say something they'd both regret, so he took point on the estrogenic jibe. "And to think, we were just defending your super-heroic status."

Beckett narrowed her eyes with a smirk. "Really boys? That's sweet. Remind me to put in the good word with Gates. I'm sure hyper-human powers must be worth a pay raise. Don't you think?"

Ry snapped his fingers in epiphany. "Ooo, Gates has gotta be retired Justice League undercover."

Javi prompted, "Who you thinkin'?"

"Isn't it obvious? Black Canary!" Kevin's eyes darted between the silent reception, "What? "Black Canary is _**blonde**_ for crying out loud! It's the sonic blast of her voice. The Canary Cry! Geesh, you guys." Kevin shook his head, muttering, "unconversant neophytes…Lookin' at **me** sideways…"

Beckett threw in a little treat for Castle who had just joined the conversation. "Yeah, I agree with the paralyzing shrillness of Gate's voice. And I definitely wouldn't want to face her in hand to hand combat, but I was thinking something a little more classic, maybe Silk Spectre or Phantom Lady? I would think her internal affairs background has to play in there."

Castle eagerly cut in to offer, "Her fondness for _Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes* _**would** make her a decent Watchmen."

Espo smarted at the very mention of the Latin phrase that had put him and Beckett on suspension.

Castle tried not to show how turned on he was by Kate's display of classic comic acumen. He continued the conversation with no hint of fan-boying over the awesomeness of his soon-to-be-wife. "Though I have to differ. Iron Gates is already the woman that future super heroines will be based on. She doesn't need to imitate the less than realized pre-feminist versions of female authority. Besides any woman who befits the title, 'Sir' more than her predecessor, Roy Montgomery, is too scary to need a floofy hairdo and a husband to be interesting."

Kate rolled her eyes at Castle's uber-competitive nature. _'__Touche Rick. We both get points for fluency in each other__'__s __'__gender specific__' __knowledge.__'_

Suddenly the parallels dawned on the author. He turned to Kai-Rhee, "Oh my word, you would _**LOVE**_ the Captain. Have you met, her? Wait, are you _**related**_?"

Beckett's admiration wane. "Let's not ruin your display of third-wave indoctrination by assuming that any woman who can vaporize your man-charms must come from the same bloodline."

Kai-Rhee praised Beckett, "You're right. Your job must be a lot more like mine than I would have guessed. And your gonna _**marry**_ this one?" She took in Rick, mouth agape in a moment of intermittent cluelessness. "Thank God my mother has my brother and sister to fulfill all her nuptial dreams. I can't rightly imagine what kind of alternate universe would make _**that**_ an attractive option."

Kevin felt a little sad for Espo as Kai-Rhee's comment seemed to deny his partner before he'd even considered asking. But Castle recognized it as just the sort of sentiment that made Esposito and Evans perfect for each other. Rick knew a thing or two about improbable love stories, and how they made anything possible.

\o/

* * *

As Beckett watched Kai-Rhee start in on her crunchy vegetable breakfast, she thought back to earlier in the morning, around 3 am, when Evans had caught her rummaging through the kitchen.

"Can I help you find something, Detective?"

"Oh sorry." Kate shifted guiltily after being caught red-handed. "I was just looking for coffee." She scrunched her nose, "I mean the _**real**_ kind."

Kai-Rhee was happy to go along with Hoax' health-nut meal plan, and certainly her charges needed the cleanse when they showed up on her doorstep, but she had nothing against caffeine in all it's varied forms.

She produced a canister from under a hidden drawer. "Wanna try this? I confiscated it from Fitz' footlocker."

Beckett's eyes lit up with the most addictive smile. Evans thought the warmth of it might melt even the hardest heart. "Oh. Yes, thank you! I can't tell you how much this means."

As Kai-Rhee fired up the coffeemaker, she asked, "Can't sleep?"

"I could ask you the same."

"Occupational hazard." Evans sighed to herself, _'__Another one__'__._

Beckett commiserated, "Same here."

As she set the machine to percolate, the Master Sergeant's eyes stared through the small window over the brew pot, noting the stars still brilliant in blue-black night. "And all the men sleep like lambs. It was the same in the desert. I can't tell you how many sunrises I saw, even when it wasn't my turn on watch."

Kai-Rhee thought about Roc sleeping on her deck. Only three hours earlier, they had drifted off together under cover of those stars. After she nestled herself into 'her spot' in his arms, all her intensity and concern melted. The quiet that could pass between them was so filled with substance. She'd wouldn't trade it for a thousand conversations.

In the middle of the night, when it became clear her questions were too insistent to let her fall back to sleep, Evans surrendered to the pull of the blueprints still waiting to give up their secrets.

Tearing her skin away from Javier's was more painful than it should have been. The experience created a new worry in her mind. She couldn't let her body get so attached that it would step out of line when it was time to say 'goodbye.' It wouldn't be the first time treasonous impulses were born inside her due to skin hunger. Kai-Rhee had no intention of repeating that kind of clusterfuck.

Katherine wondered how much was acceptable to broach with Evans. She floated, "It must be nice to catch up with old friends. I imagine things are very different from the last time you saw Esposito."

'_Wow. There are so many things different from the last time I saw Roc.__'_Though the number of things that had stayed the same, or maybe intensified were most remarkable. Still, Kai-Rhee wasn't gonna share anything personal until Kate showed her allegiance. "Roc tells me you been working together for a long while."

"Yes, years now." Beckett appraised Evans' expression before she decided how to proceed. Kate wanted to build trust and show her respect, not because she wanted something from Evans, but because it was clear that she had done good things for two of the best men in her life._ '__Hmm, what__'__s she fishing for?__'_

"How's he been?" Even though the question was innocent, Evans felt like she was making an admission of guilt.

'_Ah, I see.__'_ Katherine shifted her stance to lean her left hip and arm against the counter's edge. "Lemme tell you a story about the Javier Esposito that I know. A few years back, I took a slug to the chest." Kate pointed to the entry wound at her sternum. "When I tried to come back to work, I couldn't shake the anxiety. I tried to hide it, but Espo saw right through me. I was being swallowed by a darkness and a fear that was bigger than me." Her tone softened to confessional, "Espo reached into that dark place and pulled me right out of it. With a single conversation, at a critical moment, he was able to help me turn my weakness into a strength."

Beckett engaged Kai-Rhee's eyes with gratitude, "I'll be forever in his debt for that."

The Valkyrie nodded, then lowered her eyes. She had no words to respond to Kate's story, but needed a moment to let it seep into her psyche. As she grabbed two mugs, and went to fetch cream and sweetener, the impact began to land in her. She'd felt the difference in him. And he'd as much as admitted that he'd been through things that would certainly expand his view of human frailty.

_'Maybe this explains why Roc's opened up so much more vulnerability than I was prepared for. Fate certainly knew what she was doing when she put this man in my path and made him un-get-around-able.'_

She offered Kate a steaming mug of brewed happiness and attempted to repay the favor. "Apparently, your writer has been a boon to me, too. So far, aside from the sizable paycheck, he's brought me a reunion with an old friend and _the best_ investigative team on the eastern seaboard..." Her tone turned morbid."...just when I needed it, apparently."

Beckett risked a familiar gesture by placing a reassuring hand on top of Kai-Rhee's abbreviated one. "We're gonna figure this out. Together." Beckett took another sip of her coffee. "Now let's look at what we have so far…"

The detective began to sketch out items for an impromptu murder board and tacked her notes to the back of the pantry door. Within an hour, the women had sketched out half a dozen resources for more intel and a plan to get some first hand if none of those produced the results they wanted.

\o/

* * *

"Oh hell no!"

"Completely out of the question."

Hoax and Esposito were NOT happy with the plan that Beckett and Kai-Rhee had concocted.

Castle wasn't pleased either, but he reserved his objections for something more tactful. He looked plaintively into Beckett's eyes, "Are we forgetting the last time that you went undercover? This time you might not make it out of the belly of the beast."

"_This time_, I'll be with her," Kai-Rhee offered.

"And so will I," Ryan volunteered.

None of part of the conversation was helping Esposito's blood pressure. He wasn't about to let 3 of his most-important-people-in-the-world walk into a potentially dangerous situation with so many unknowns.

Evans turned to Esposito. "And you'll be watching."

"A high precision rifle won't do us a lick of good once you walk through those doors."

"We might not make it inside," Evans stalled. "There's a very good chance we'll see what we need to from the courtyard."

Ryan concurred, "Yeah, and it's a long shot that they'd invite us in anyway."

"But if they do, we'll be fine. We'll take precautions." Kai-Rhee was referring to her plan to alert her Uncle Charlie when they were in position. No one was likely to make a move if the General had been briefed on their whereabouts.

Simon burst into the kitchen with Music, his Black Labrador companion, close behind.

Relief washed over Kai-Rhee. _'__He__'__s back and in one piece. That__'__s a good sign.__'_

Simon motioned for Evans to speak to him outside in private.

The Master Sergeant knew their plan would require more teamwork than she'd ever asked of her volunteer guardian, especially since she wouldn't be able to issue orders for most of it. "Why, don't you come in and share with the whole group?"

When the tall, dark man approached cautiously, Music whined and circled nervously at his heels.

Kai-Rhee posited to herself as much as to her protector, "It's time to put our trust in the people who've come to offer us aide…" The rough translation felt like a ten pound weight clenched in her teethe as she dragged it across her lips. "…il est bon de faire confiance."

Her Nigerian friend started to relax his paranoia as he looked into the accepting eyes of Beckett, Ryan, Espo, and Hoax, but when his eyes met Castle's, he froze with uncertainty.

Rick stepped forward with all the humility he took pains to hide among his richer, more successful friends. Money and fame couldn't wipe out the person Richard was born to be, it could only hide it for awhile, until he was ready to fall in love with Kate.

The author dropped his tone of voice to make a solemn overture. "Mr. Simon, we are each standing here because we care about Kai-Rhee and the nameless people who deserve better than the end they came to." His blue eyes unfurled their most genuine assurance. "We're working on a plan to make it right. We could use the help of every person on this island who is interested in protecting the Master Sergeant…" He motioned to the others in the room. "…and those brave enough to take on such a task with her. Would you honor us with your contribution to the group? You would be a great asset. And we'd be lucky to have you." He outstretched his hand for a handshake.

Silently, Simon considered relenting. His eyes half-squinted in a new look of respect for the yappy rich man who let trees get the better of him.

He stepped forward and took Castle's hand. "Oui." He began a slow handshake to seal his commitment to the whole group, more than just his Valkyrie. Quietly, his Black Lab companion placed both paws on top of their joined hands to pledge his allegiance too.

\o/

* * *

"Introducing you two is either the best idea I've had in years," Kai-Rhee's eyes shifted from Creed to Fitz, "or the seminal moment of the personal privacy apocalypse."

Adnan soothed, "Well, luckily for you, an invasion of privacy is exactly our goal right now." He looked with gleaming eyes at his partner. "And I must say, I've never been prouder of my counterpart's ability to make the most of resources at hand."

"Wanna see what we've come up with?" Fitz was ready for his close-up. He and Bob had been at it all night. Luckily, after Kai-Rhee and Beckett gave them more specific parameters (and real caffeine), the problem-solving hurricane had demolished their creative blocks.

Kai-Rhee wasn't so sure. "Do I?"

Balboa answered, "Well, it's actually more essential that Detective Ryan be well-versed. We've been working on his cover for hours now, but I still want to practice more extemporaneous reactions with him. I know you said he's worked deep cover before, and luckily it's advantageous to draw on the Irish background, but this is still not a timeline I'm comfortable with in order to produce failsafe results."

Fitz questioned, "What is our timeline, anyway? I'd like to reproduce at least 4 prototypes to place in the case alongside the original."

"As soon as possible. Fitzy come find me when you're ready." She turned to Ryan, "Good luck, Detective, if anyone can turn you into a convincing salesmen, it's Balboa here."

"Thank you, Sensei." Adnan flashed her the sparkling smile that could charm sheik's daughters out of their panties, and their millions.

\o/

* * *

Esposito and Castle could have powered their own compound with the amount of battery acid rising in their stomachs. Rick had insisted on joining Javier in his vantage point above the quad. The author was busy scanning the buildings with long range binoculars, while Espo set up the telescopic sight, bipod, and rangefinder.

Since there was nothing to see yet, Castle let himself get absorbed in the gadgetry as Esposito moved quickly through the expansion and placement of each item. By the time his friend had started punching numbers to calculate, the writer was ready to explode with questions about how it all worked. Curiosity was the writer's antidote to anxiety.

"What's this thingy for?"

"Castle, I'm trying to concentrate!" Javi snapped, "We can dish about gear later."

Esposito was irritable. Math was _**not**_ his favorite part of his position as sharpshooter. He wanted to triple check every minute of arc, since he wasn't entirely familiar with the equipment. Some of it might be Marine Corp issue and use different measurements. Of course, he'd checked everything twice before packing it up to the tower, but one could never be too careful. Kai-Rhee, Ryan and Beckett were depending on him.

The terrible thought had been pounding on his nerves like a ball peen hammer from the moment they laid out the plan:

'_**This might be the highest valued asset I've ever been assigned to protect**_

_**...at least subjectively'**_

After Espo batted away Castle's curious hands for the second time, he resigned himself to the need to assign the author something that could entertain him. "Here! Make yourself useful. I need wind direction, wind velocity, altitude, elevation, and ambient temperature. You know how to use these?" He pointed to the instruments he had just finished with.

Rick seized upon the permission to touch anything black, shiny, and covered in minute numerical hashmarks.

Espo sternly warned, "**Don****'****t** change my settings. Got it?"

"Got it."

Javier knew better than to let Rick play with something essential, but he added that last bit for realism, and maybe a little pressure release.

Castle eyed the spinny, flashy, hardened man-toys with an intense desire to fondle. _'__Let__'__s see. What first?__'_

As Esposito settled into his prone position and started making his last round of adjustments, his nerves were met by an old familiar foe: the feeling that seized him just before the waiting began.

Mastering the 'art of waiting' was a major component of being a sniper. Javier had a love/hate relationship with it. At first, he hated everything about the long stretches of inactivity. When he was on his feet, he'd rather go than stop. It would never have dawned on him that his specialty lie alongside that skill.

Luckily, with encouragement, he'd stuck with his discomfort long enough to get to the other side, and find his talent for long-range targets. The 'other side of waiting' held a uniquely excellent place to express the very best protection he could offer his team.

Even though Javi ran hot, the process of waiting forced him to drop down past all the emotional noise than roared around him, to a quiet focus. It wasn't a cold or icy place. It was empty, spacious. His thoughts had so much freedom to manipulate his focal point and body position. It felt like _**more**_ than control: it felt like _alignment_, precision he'd never experienced in the fray. Once he'd gotten past the uncomfortable entry, that realm generated Esposito's best work.

After he had mastered his discipline to drop into that zone at will, Javier knew he could hit the target with more accuracy than whatever he could do hand to hand. It certainly felt satisfying to burst into a room and tackle a scumbag, but it would never allow him the level of exactitude that high stakes operations required.

That's why his superiors encouraged him to stick with it through his frustrations. They could see Javier Esposito needed to unhook his inner firebrand and let his Scorpionic eyes work unencumbered to be all he could be.

\o/

* * *

_*__"__But who watches the watchmen themselves?__" __Latin phrase that Capt Gates, Internal Affairs, and the Watchmen comic books all draw on. _

_**Humungous love balls to everybody cheering Kai-Rhee & cast onto Summer Fic-A-Thon goal. Still gotta job to do before Hiatus end. **_

_**Next up: No more waiting! Action kicks into high gear as Beckett & Ryan go undercover! What's the contrivance? **_


	18. Chapter 18

"You alright, Ryan?" Beckett was concerned that maybe the crash course in miniaturized surveillance and tracking systems had left him addled. She turned toward her counterpart, balancing gracefully on wedges that raised her a meager 3 inches from the sand, while still managing to sculpt her calf muscles into orbs that gleamed.

The rasp in the young detective's voice startled his boss. "Ryan's not here. Name's Fenton, I've moved on to fencing high end human tagging devices after the whole Irish Mob thing didn't work out."

As they approached the sandy path that led away from the beach up to the research facilities on the other end of the island, Kevin's speech, gait and squint against the sun all aligned to a completely different persona. Even his shoulders squared to a new angle. He appeared much more confident, and street-wise, and ready with a fist if the whole gabfest didn't work out.

Ryan was afraid. The situation they were walking into was highly unstable in terms of X-factors. That worked in his favor. Fear had always served him well when he took on the personality that he worked in deep cover. Walking up the path that lead to 'Emerald City,' he was thinking in his alter-ego's choppy cadence. He was even noticing what Fenton O'Connell would notice, not only what Kevin Ryan would.

As O'Connell, he couldn't help but fixate on the fact that Katherine Beckett was a full on hottie in the short light blue dress she was wearing. It's sateen sash wrapped around her backside as if she were a present in need of unwrapping.

As they turned onto the courtyard, with Evans flanking their right side, Beckett whispered under her breath, "Eyes off my ass, _**Fenton**_."

"It's called realism, _**Portia**__,_ every detail counts."

After rolling her eyes, 'Portia' Beckett wrapped her arm inside 'Fenton's' elbow to turn up the girlie effect for the eyes they hoped were watching.

A young man in a white lab coat noticed them, and came outside to greet them. "Can I help you folks?"

The Valkyrie outstretched her right forearm for a handshake greeting. "Kai-Rhee, your neighbor. Found these two washed up on my doorstep, apparently looking for your boss."

Kev took his cue. "Name's O'Connell. I represent interests that could be very helpful for your operation here. I brought something wit me that your chief researcher will wanna see."

"And her?"

"This's Portia. Doll idn't she?" Ryan leaned into the man's ear, "Strickly speakin' my models for this demo don't need to be so pretty. But since I ain't footin' the bill, I thought what the hell." His lecherous smile and wink almost made Beckett forget that her bashful junior officer was speaking. "Nuttin' too good for science, am I right?" He gave an overly-familiar slap to the outside of the man's upper-arm.

Kai-Rhee cut in, "And what's **your** name, _neighbor_?"

"Shannon." He tried to shake off his bedazzled stare at the heavenly Portia-creature. "What did you say you were selling? My apologies," He offered his arm to Kate as he lead them inside. "We don't get many door-to-door salesmen around these parts."

\o/

* * *

Castle's temperature shot through the roof as he watched his fiance saunter into the edifice. He spoke into the comm link that Bob had given him. "Can you see where they went inside the building?"

Hoax hated to say it. "Negatory, Nermal."

"I've still got audio." Creed chimed in.

Esposito's emotions wouldn't let him hear anything in his headset except the click of the metal latch as the door closed behind his three closest friends. The sound echoed inside him, replacing all his brave optimism with excruciating helplessness. He closed his eyes so that he could still see all three in his mind's eye, rather than stare through the viewfinder at the vacant place he _**wanted**_ them to be. They might as well have been on mars if he couldn't see them through the scope, and consequently protect them.

\o/

* * *

The longest 24 moments of Javier's life passed before the doors swung open and spilled Kai-Rhee and Ryan into the blinding sunlight.

Castle still couldn't breathe. "Where's Kate? Creed, you have audio?"

"Positive, Nerm, she's…uh…getting 'job' offers. Doesn't sound like our man Shannon is interested in letting her go."

Through his binoculars, Castle could see Ryan scuffing the gravel, shifting pebbles while waiting for the usual drag coefficient that comes with taking a stunningly beautiful woman, like Kate, out in public. People couldn't help but notice Katherine, especially when she dressed 'like a girl.' Kevin was calm, no flags raised.

When Beckett finally slid out of the doors, Ryan and Evans gave quick one beat waves of their right hands to whoever was on the other side of the door. Esposito could clearly see the reflections of his friends in the glass of the building.

As Kate in Kevin's arm made her way expeditiously across the courtyard, Kai-Rhee stood frozen for a moment in her farewell. Something appeared to catch her notice behind the glass, her maimed hand hung in the air for an extra breath before melting back to her side. Javier was watching her expression reflected in the glass, but couldn't see who or what was beyond it.

When she finally turned to leave, the 10 paces of distance between the detectives and the Master Sergeant left Javier a difficult snap judgement to make. Keep the sights trained on Beckett and Ryan? Or on Kai-Rhee behind them? Moving targets were nowhere near assured at his distance, but to cover both was next to impossible.

In the space of one third of a second his training said:

_One. Multiple assets greater than single asset. _

_Two. Kai-Rhee more likely to handle herself._

_Three. My job is to cover my partners._

He followed Kev and Kate safely through in his scope until they turned onto the beach, where Hoax was waiting for them. When he panned back to cover Valedictoria for the rest of her exit, she was gone.

"Where is she?" Espo asked Castle, who searched through his binoculars. Javier spoke into the headset. "Hoax, visual on Valkyrie?"

"Negative. Simon? You see her?"

When Simon didn't answer, Hoax tried again. "Simon, come in. Do you see Kai-Rhee?"

\o/

* * *

It took Hoax and Ryan both working together to haul Esposito back to base camp.

Finally, Beckett got a train on his eyes. "Esposito, calm down!"

Katherine had put on a jacket as she entered the walk-in freezer. With her shoulders covered, she looked more like his boss than a runway model. Javier took notice when she invoked her cop-voice. "We'll find her, Espo, but we need you to **calm down**!"

Reluctantly, Javi cooled enough to stand on his own.

Luckily, Kate was already in charge. "Hoax, did you call in Creed? We need to know if he can hear her."

The big man stepped back into the kitchen to use his headset.

"Ryan, you get Fitz to boost the signals as high as he can. See if the bugs we planted are picking up anything."

"I'm on it."

"Castle, I need you to call Gates. Let her know that our situation has changed."

Rick balked, "You want _**me**_ to call the Captain?"

Beckett rolled her eyes, "Just get her on the line, I'll do the talking."

Rick nodded and followed Hoax to find the reception that couldn't penetrate the metal ice box.

Katherine turned toward Javier, "She might be fine. She might have seen something and decided to turn back of her own accord. She's lived on this island for years without incident. There's a very real possibility that she is having a neighborly chat with the people next door." Beckett didn't believe the last scenario was likely, but it _was_ the honest truth.

Esposito believed that his eyes were seething anger when he met Kate's gaze, but Beckett could see burnt umber fear threatening to eat him alive.

Castle stuck his head in the freezer, "Got Gates here." He pointed at his phone.

Beckett exchanged a nod with Espo before she stepped out to take the call.

Cannon burst into the kitchen, panting out of breath, with Kreuger close behind. "Hoax, zit true? Master Sergeant didn't come back?"

"Yes. But, we're not sure why. You boys wanna lend a hand?"

"Hell, yeah!"

"There's another tower like the crows nest. Already assembled in 3 pieces, but not erect. Take the path that leads southwest from Confidence. Grab the tools from behind the dojo, and attach the base supports. I'll be along shortly to help you raise the rest of it."

"Sure thing."

"And gents," Hoax lowered his voice in warning, "bring your phones, stick together, and keep it quiet if you can."

"Got it." Cannon tapped Kreuger's chest to head them off in the direction of the dojo.

\o/

* * *

Ryan waved Beckett and Castle into Creed's cabin. The champs had converted almost every inch of it into a large scale listening booth over the preceding 24 hours.

As Beckett took the headset that Adnan offered. "What do we got?"

Creedon answered, "It's not exactly what we are looking for, but I believe the transmitters you left with our research friends are sitting on the desk of that fella Shannon." Bob readjusted some dials. "If he decides to use one of them, or test them in a lab, we might get a lot more traffic, but for right now all we are picking up are conversations near his desk."

Castle asked the question that seemed unlikely judging by Creed's expression, "Any sign of Kai-Rhee?"

"No. But Shannon did make a call to someone he called 'Doc' shortly after we lost contact with her. Sounds like they set a meeting for an hour from now."

Rick pressed Kate for details, "Did Shannon mention a 'Doc' while you were inside?"

She shook her head. "Shannon was mostly concerned with appearing as though **he** was the decision-maker we should be talking to, but it was clear from his nervousness that he was lying about that. It's unclear who he reports to, but from what Kai-Rhee told us earlier, it seems safe to assume that Doctor Matthew Carrion is the shot-caller, at least where the science is concerned."

Ryan added, "Shannon was very interested in our samples. And I don't think it was an act. The wheels behind his eyes were turning when we mentioned that the earrings were waterproof, trackable and lockable. When I showed him how I could insert one into the Master Sergeant's earlobe that not even she would notice, he all but jumped out of his seat." Kevin turned to Rick, "Not much of a poker player."

Adnan let Creedon and Beckett discuss specifics while he congratulated his pupil.

"Not like our fantastic Fenton O'Connell, here!" Delphi rubbed Ryan on the back. "I must say I was more than a little worried when you left here earlier chewing gum like a nervous schoolboy. But my did you deliver!" Balboa's hands animated his gush with mimes of jabs, ducking, and weaving. "Just enough edge to throw him off balance, just enough silence to let him spill…and the improv! I swear I stood for ovation when you likened the wolf and sheep to a 'molester in cardinal's clothing.' Way to read the room! I couldn't have done it better myself." He hooked his arm around Ryan's neck and yanked an affectionate squeeze.

Adnan turned to Rick. "I bet this young scruff cleans you out at the poker table."

When Castle puckered his lips and shook his head with a lowered gaze, Delphi seemed utterly shocked.

"Well, maybe Detective Ryan's got a shitty poker face, but _**Fenton**_, ah, he's your man." He turned to Kev. "Have you ever played the author as O'Connell?"

Rick shook his head wildly against the proliferation of this idea.

Ryan's eyebrows arched. "Never thought of that. But it's worth a try. I certainly couldn't do any worse." Kev considered, "And the language would be a helluva lot more colorful."

Castle dropped his head momentarily before assuming a fake smile, "Thanks, Balboa, you may have just lost me thousands of dollars. I'll send you a bill."

"Oh, if Irish here cleans you out, I'll be happy to give you the chance to win it all back from me. But I gotta warn ya, Nerm, I made our second million betting with our first." He winked at Rick and gave Kevin one more proud pat on the back before heading back to the table with Bob and Kate.

Ryan addressed Castle's concerned look in Fenton's thick Irish brogue, "Don't look so peck-ed, Ricky, I wone clean ya out on our firss dence. Maybe juss a lil time to re-acquaint myself wit yer Ferrari a'gen. Den we'll see whose mug's prettier."

As Kevin rejoined the group, Castle cursed to himself in something like parental angst, "Dammit these kids! Turn your back and they're all grown up, and beating you at your own game. Sigh!"

Beckett flipped her palms upward and gave Castle her practiced 'what-are-you-doing-?-we-have-a-case-over-here' expression.

Castle hopped back to the conversation apologetically, his mind beset with the sentimental lyrics his mother sang whenever she confronted Alexis' milestones, or his own. With a more genuine sigh he lamented to Kate, _"__hhiiih__…__Never enough time in a bottle. They grow up so fast.__'_

\o/

* * *

Esposito went to search Kai-Rhee's quarters for signs of her cell phone or other useful leads.

When he came across the CD they had danced to earlier, he all but crushed his fist on the bookshelf. "God dammit! Why the hell did I let her go in there?"

As soon as he put words to his feelings, he realized that he was in no position to 'let' her do anything. If anyone was giving leave in their relationship, it was most likely her. She 'let' him back into her life. She 'let' him open up in ways he rarely did with anyone. She 'let' him see her without all her make-believe invincibility from time to time. Espo was just happy his chronic foot-in-mouth-disease was in remission long enough to 'let' him enjoy it for a little while.

He censured himself. '_This isn__'__t helping. Focus on the leads. Follow the trail. Don__'__t think about __**her**__ until you__'__ve done everything you can do.__'_

His eyes darted around the apartment. Walking over to her desk under the window, Espo looked for the black cord he saw connected to the wall outlet behind. He followed the line over the thick manuscript on her desk until it ended in the drawer. Opening the drawer revealed Evan's cell phone with 2 message notifications on it.

\o/

* * *

"You alright, bro?" Kevin peaked his head inside Kai-Rhee's door.

"Just tryin' to figure this out."

Ryan noticed his best friend standing hunched over a cell phone in his hands.

"S'zat hers?"

"Yeah, it's locked. And she's got two new messages. One from 'BB' and the other from Clarkson. I'm sure they must have something to do with the asses that took her, but I can't figure out the code."

Ryan loved a puzzle like this. "Alright, how many numbers?"

"Four. I've already tried her ID number, and sex and combat firsts. It's not any combination of her step-dad's dog tags." Espo motioned to the metal necklace hanging on a hook over the desk. "I would try her mom's last four digits, but I'm sure the number's in her phone."

Kevin rummaged through the desk drawers. "Here. What's she under?" Kevin started thumbing through the address book he'd found.

"W' for Walker, Gladys."

"K, try…..7077."

"No. Damn. Now I'm locked out for another 3 minutes."

Ryan began to thumb through the address book looking for leads, thinking, _'__It__'__s so handy that people used to keep these little books filled with all the people in their lives. They made my job so much easier, especially when a person goes missing __**with**__ their phone. Pity the kids don__'__t make this kind of effort anymore. But I suppose __subpoena__-ing cell records will get easier to compensate. Why does it feel less like an invasion of privacy when I can look through a neat little book like this? Like they handed me a way to help them, instead of big brother coughing up their secrets.__' _

Esposito paced in lieu of patience, trying to talk himself down, trying **not** to be jealously annoyed by Kev's reliable even-temper.

"Wait, what's this?" Kevin revealed to Javier a list of numbers on the inside back cover of the little book. Ryan scanned for patterns. _'__Six numbers across and six numbers down. No slashes to indicate dates, but the pattern fits, no numbers higher than 12 in the first two digits, and none higher than 31 in the second two.__' _

Esposito crossed urgently to his partner. "What chu find?"

"These might be dates. Do you recognize any of them?"

Espo scanned the list. "Yeah, I think you're onto something." He recognized the 5th set of numbers very well, and thought the last looked familiar, too.

"Start from the bottom upwards, using the first four numbers. If this is a list of dates, then maybe the last entry is the most recent."

When the phone allowed, Javier punched in 1228. "Not that one. I've got 2 more tries."

"Try the next one up."

Javi hesitated before typing 1023.

"What? Did it work?"

"Yeah."

Kevin took the address book out of Javi's hands, trying to figure out why Espo looked so stunned. "Oh, wow." Probably better if they didn't discuss the significance of the number. "Why don't we just take a look at those messages, okay, partner?"

"Yeah." Espo shook off his shock, latching onto Ryan's lead, relying on it to bring him back to detached, methodical, forward movement. "Good idea, bro."

* * *

_**Yo, Wild Rover fans, where you at?**_

_**In my excitement to roll out double chapter fun, I neglected to thank everyone in Gotham for their fun comments & encouragement: TeamBromance, LoveAbby, SelimPensFiction, MLN, JaimeSpencer4, GeekMom, PurpleSatin, BigKahuna, CharacterDriven, concreteangel, southerngirl, FuelDH206 and more friends who DM. **_

_**You all rock, especially my rump shakin' twitter bugs. Our global synchronized dance parties save my day! Join me at WOML WOML if you wanna get in on the get down. Or go check out SelimPensFiction**__**'**__**s one-shot, A Bat in The Castle, for more superheroic fun! **_

_**Next up: Gates, Esplanie, and spy games, oh my! Who wants to peek inside Emerald city, meet the scientists, and see some CLASSIC CASKETT mystery solving (with a little kissing on the side)? **_


	19. Chapter 19

Valedictoria Evans 'came to' with a splitting headache. Through bleary eyes, she noticed that the sparse room in which she found herself was oddly decorated. Artificial light distilled stagnantly onto something like a 1970's version of a hotel suite, with rust colored drapery, brown carpet, and avocado upholstery that had all the sensual comfort of burlap. Perhaps it was the macrame curtain ties that gave it a retro look, but Evans felt she was breathing the stale air of a world trapped in time warp as she surveyed the space. From her recline on an itchy couch, she scanned the room for a door, but when she rose to cross toward it vertigo hit her hard enough to send her reeling onto the floor.

Shannon rushed in to help her back onto the the couch. "I don't think you're ready for that, yet."

She groaned as he laid her head back on the couch, but little sound escaped.

"You took a nasty fall. I can't imagine your head feels like a happy place. The Doc is on his way to have a look at you."

Evans was in too much pain to answer. She closed her eyes momentarily to try to remember why. But nothing came.

"Don't worry, he's the very best you could possibly ask for. He could fix you better than new." He handed her the paper cup of water already poured on the table to the right of the couch. "It's an honor really."

Kai-Rhee tried to protest, but her voice box was inoperative. A squeakless whisper spilled out of her lips, but no hint of words. Her eyes widened in alarm.

"Now you just try to rest until he gets here." He turned to leave.

Evans went through the training she'd had on enemy capture. She had no idea what kind of situation she'd found herself in, but knew that the most cautious approach was her best bet.

'_One. Slow breathing. _

_Two. Assess environment. _

_Three. Body check.'_

She couldn't find any external damage, but internally she felt pain, numbness or unresponsive systems in most areas. Unsatisfied with her results, she started to inventory her mental state.

'_Memories? _

_My name is Valedictoria Evans. Master Sergeant US Army. Codename: Valkyrie. Kai-Rhee. Daughter of Gladys and Earnest Walker. Born New Orleans, Louisiana. _

_This morning? _

_I had coffee with Detective Beckett at 0300 hours. Carrots, Red Pepper and Celery at 0600 hours. Morning run at 0700 hours with Javier Esposi__…_

_Oh Crumbnuts! Those boys on Krypton are gonna be going apeshit. _

_Thank God Beckett is there. And Hoax__… __and Simon__…_

_Oh no. Simon.'_

Evans knew it was highly unlikely that her Nigerian shadow was doing anything short of risking his life to extract her. She hoped desperately that no unnecessary blood would be spilt by his hands.

\o/

* * *

"Hello. My name is Matthew. I understand you've had some misfortune today. May I take a look?" The Doctor's eyes were kind, though his features were sharpened with an edge of too much angularity.

Carrion began a visual examination of her limbs, eyes and reflexes. When he came across her scarred hand he stopped. "May I?"

She gave no indication of a response. Her focus was on taking in as much information as possible, since her body wasn't capable of escape.

He lifted her right arm at the elbow, angling the fingers up to catch the best light.

"Amazing, isn't she?" Shannon asked, after entering the room from behind the Doc.

"I don't think I could have imagined a more perfect placement. Even the taper of skin is perfectly suited."

Every sensor that would report in to Kai-Rhee's central nervous system was alarmed by their exchange, though at least their eery fascination with her scars seemed to give her some amount of leverage, **IF** she could manage to speak up and use it.

"My apologies. Where are my manners? Miss..?" He turned to Shannon for her name.

"Evans."

"Miss Evans. I am a builder of bodies. A healer, when I'm very lucky. The injuries you sustained today appear to be very temporary. On the other hand…" He blushed at his poorly phrased preposition. "…your long-term injuries may also be fixable." He retracted his boast with humility, "Or, at the very least, improvable."

She sat in stony silence both because she had no choice, and because she couldn't believe her ears. '_Fix me? Builder of bodies? What the hell __**is**__ this place?__'_

"Would you do me the honor of your forbearance for another hour?" He set her hand down gently by her side. "I would like to show you something that might be of supreme interest to you."

'_I can wait an hour. I been waiting 7 years already.'_

When she gave no response in either direction, he turned to Shannon, "You'll see that she's very comfortable in the meanwhile. Won't you?"

"Of course."

Carrion rushed from the room with a mind focused far from the world in front of him.

\o/

* * *

"We've got audio on your prototypes, Fitz. Better call in the detectives so they can hear this."

When Beckett and Castle arrived in Creedon's cabin, there were a lot of noises swirling around the room. Bob was moving quickly from one headset to another to check which receivers had an uplink.

Adnan filled them in. "We've got noise. A LOT of it. From the chatter we've been picking up, multiple people in multiple locations, all with different voice signatures. We haven't hit the end of our tally, but at least 30 distinct individuals, almost all of them conversing en Español. Almost positively Cuban accent, though a mix of dialects from Havana to rural."

The room buzzed and chirped with recording devices as Creedon flew between each station attempting to capture it all. When Fitz opened the door, Bob's eyes filled with hope.

"Any luck on that satellite? I could sure use a server 'bout now."

"Ready, Champ."

Creed reseated himself at his laptop. "Not a moment too soon."

When Ryan and Esposito joined the party, both Rick and Kate looked up with their earphones on.

"What'd we miss?"

Fitz volunteered, "A party, Cuban-style, and no one thought to invite us." He pulled back his sarcasm to add regrettably, "but no sign of the Master Sergeant yet."

Beckett removed her headphones. "Let's call in the rest of the men, maybe we can find a few more translators among the group."

Fitz replied, "Got it. I think they're done erecting that second tower anyway." He stepped outside to conjure up something vague but urgent to text Hoax, Cannon and Kreuger, since none of their lines were secure.

Castle took off his headphones, so that he could offer them to Esposito. "It appears that we have quite a bit of company on this island."

When Fitz returned inside, he checked in with Creedon, "Uploading?" Bob's affirmative nod spurred a warning from the programmer. "Good. We may not have the feed for very long, depending on how distracted they are. Their own security will be able to pick up on it, too. If they're as paranoid as I am, they'll shut it down until they can close the circuit on audio." He turned to Ryan. "Especially since we neglected to mention that in the 'value added' features of our little test product."

\o/

* * *

After Cannon and Hoax joined the translation team, there was plenty of data for Beckett and Castle to review.

Cannon explained, "I'm not really fluent. Most of my vocabulary describes things like cookies, milk and how to use items in the restroom, since I only ever used my Spanish with the nanny." The blonde blushed to admit his sheltered upbringing among mixed company. "Luckily, there is a good deal of that in the conversation I'm listening to. These women appear to be discussing potty training for their 3 year olds."

Castle was floored. "Are you telling me there are children over there?"

Beckett tried to clarify with actual evidence to combat her partner's paranoia. "Did you hear children's voices?"

"Hard to tell. There's a lot of static."

Hoax chimed in, "I did! Chico's a hellion, too. Took out abuelo with a sandal to the nutsack from what I heard."

Castle saw red. _'__How can there be children involved in any of this? How can this be okay on any level?__'_

Beckett noticed her fiancé slipping into his protective rage where children are concerned. She countered, "Has anyone heard anything hostile? Something to indicate that these people are being held against their will? Perhaps mention of where they think they are? Or who is holding them? Any complaints, maybe?"

No one in the room had a confirmation for her. She scanned a room of heads shaking 'no.'

"The most kvetching I heard was about the line at the bathroom," Fitz offered.

Adnan concurred. "Most of the conversations have been very pedestrian. No one's under stress from what I've heard."

Kate turned to her mystery writer. "This doesn't make any sense. If there are whole families of people living on this island, why haven't we seen any of them? If they are here of their own accord, why wouldn't they be at the beach? In the sunlight? And if they are families, and not soldiers, what could they possibly have to do with a military defense research group?"

Rick's machinations were trying to write the plot backwards. "Maybe test subjects? Maybe large scale control group? If they're from a poorer country like Cuba, maybe they were offered a handsome stipend for their participation in a study?"

Beckett cross examined, "If that's the case, then what would they want with Kai-Rhee? She's a soldier, without her family, and certainly doesn't need the money."

Castle let the plot twist turn round in his imagination for a moment. Introducing a character like Kai-Rhee into the hypothetical crime novel he was attempting to sketch out with the evidence at hand refused to lead to pretty results. "Hmm. Maybe she's the 'experimental' sample to compare that control group _**to**_." He censored a few of his fears with a down tuned mouth.

Esposito was immediately annoyed. "You're gonna choose NOW, of all times, to keep your nut job theories to yourself? _**What,**_ Castle?"

"Well, if I were writing this novel, I wouldn't introduce a character like Kai-Rhee unless I needed her special talents." To his chagrin, Castle observed that a subtle answer was not going to satisfy Espo's request. He expounded, "Kai-Rhee's a specimen of military skills. She's trained to kill people. If they wanted her for an experiment, I can't help but guess, that it would be for something that utilizes her training, for…" Rick hated to say it out loud. He attempted the most delicate articulation he could think of. "...something like _target _practice."

Ryan watched his best friend struggle to keep it together. Both he and Beckett were searching for something concrete to focus on that could keep all of them grounded in the actionable steps that they **could** control.

Kevin tugged on the first logical lead they hadn't yet explored. "What about Carrion? If he's such a brilliant scientist, we must be able to dig up more about him. His family, his interests, maybe that will give us some clue to what he'd be working on. Sounds like they've given him a lot of autonomy. Stands to reason he'd be working on something close to his heart."

"Great. Ryan, you get to work on that."

Beckett turned to Javier. "Espo, can you work with Hoax to come up with a tactical plan? Look at the specs of the island and see if there's some feature we can exploit for extraction, once we figure out where she is. If we need to go back in there, we are gonna need a better point of entry. That courtyard was like walking into the valley of death. Way too vulnerable an approach."

"Tell me about it!" Esposito slipped. He had meant to nod at the assignment, just as he did every time his boss issued one in New York. Just because he was under stress and technically off duty was no cause to throw respect out the window. He wasn't handling the news as well as he wanted to.

When everyone was busied again Kate turned to Rick, using her conspirator's tone, "So, what do you think they'd have her target?" She thought about the image of a tank chopped into foot long pieces that Ensign Esposito had painted for them.

Rick checked that Javier was out of ear shot before he whispered, "Well, if they are making lasers designed to eliminate _human_ targets, eventually they'll need to test them on more than dummies and moving vehicles."

\o/

* * *

"You wanted to see me Captain Gates?"

"Have a seat, Ms. Parrish." Victoria waved her in. "And shut the door."

'_Uh oh. That's not a good sign. What's this about?'_

"I've just gotten off the phone with Detective Beckett."

'_Oh great. It's only Wednesday afternoon. How did she get herself into trouble in less than 48 hours?'_

"It seems she and her partners have stumbled onto something during vacation."

'_News flash!… Please don't let it be serious.' _Lanie began to worry.

Captain Gates tread lightly, "However, the situation might be a little complicated."

'_Compared to all the __**non-complicated**__ trouble she usually gets into?' _

"In any event, I want to make it clear that this precinct is not to be involved in any such complications. If Detective Beckett, or someone on her team, contacts you to access police resources…"

'_Really? She called me in here to preemptively question my judgment on ethical use of the morgue?'_

The captain leaned to half-sit on the front side of her desk.

"…I don't want to see any** evidence** that you were involved in saving the life of a decorated veteran and potentially the lives of several non-nationals who don't have recourse to legal protection." Her eyes leveled a second meaning into Parrish's disbelieving gaze. "Even**_ if_ **doing so would prove this precinct's gratitude for all the sacrifice the men and women who serve our great nation deserve, _and_ preserve the very ideals they took such risk to uphold."

Gates pulled her glasses off. "Am I making myself crystal clear?"

'_Oh, now that's a twist.'_

Iron Gates opened up silent collusion with Parrish.

"Yes, Captain. I understand. The line demarcating police business from other concerns, be they ever so noble, is unmistakeable."

"Good. I'm glad we understand each other." She replaced her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"Shall I get back to work then?"

"Absolutely."

As Lanie crossed to open the door, the Captain interrupted. "And examiner.."

Lanie turned uncertainly.

"Tell Castle & Co I wish them good luck on their boot camp _'__challenges.__'_"

\o/

* * *

As Parrish crossed into her morgue, the call finally connected, but not to a living voice.

"You've reached Detective Beck…"

"Dammit, girl, answer your phone."

After three back and forth relays across the cold, acoustically-amplified tiles of the morgue floor, Lanie gave in and dialed the _other_ number. On the third ring she thought she was going to voicemail again.

"Esposito."

"What's going on down there? I plan on being a bridesmaid in a few weeks, not a pall bearer. And _I am __**NOT **_gonna buy new shoes for the occasion!"

"I can't talk about it."

"Can't or won't? Javi, that's my best friend with you. Just gimme something."

"Beckett's fine for the moment. I'll have her contact you. This line might be compromised."

"And you?"

"What about me?"

"You sound fairly 'compromised' yourself. Should I be worried?"

"I don't see how that would help." Lanie Parrish was in a different world. It had dead bodies and dirtbags in it, but it was sane, so very sane, by comparison. Espo couldn't begin to explain what they were dealing with.

"Would you tell me if something serious was going on with you?"

"Probably not." Perhaps that was too much honestly, but he was too stressed and raw to play it cool. When Lanie's hurt silence filled the other end of the receiver, Espo recanted, "…Buuuuuut, you'd probably read it on me anyway, so I wouldn't need to say anything."

He needed to focus on his work with Hoax. He couldn't stand to be distracted. _'__What could I say that could satisfy my __…__my what? ex? casual partner? friend? None of those feel like they fit__…__My Lanie, I guess?__' _Esposito huffed in frustration. "Listen. Shit's complicated."

"So, I've heard."

"I'm doing what I can to make it right." That should have been the end of the conversation, but his agitation spilled over into desperation. "I just hope it's enough…and not too late."

"Javi, baby, I'm sure you're enough."

Lanie wasn't exactly sure where _**that**_ awkward shift in pronoun came from, but she didn't mind. She would have preferred to give him a hug. He sounded like he really needed it. But the words would have to do._ '__I__f he__'__s too caught up to hide his insecurity__ better__ than that, Javi must be dealing with something big.__' _

On the other end of the line, the content of Lanie's words registered at best as general encouragement, at worst as a brushing off of his fears. Javier only heard the resignation of the phone conversation. Finally, he was free to hang up. "Thanks. I gotta go."

\o/

* * *

There must've been something in the thick humid air that kept turning Rick into the type of guy to pull his fiance off the path and into the palms for stolen moments of privacy.

"What's gotten into you, Castle?"

"Supplication." He kissed her neck.

"What? What are you doing?"

"Benediction." He kissed the other side of her neck.

Beckett was looking at him like a third head had sprung from his collar.

"Adoration." He drew her right hand to his lips and kissed her fingers.

'_Well, that__'__s unexpectedly sweet.__'_ She calmed enough to be curious, even if she was in the middle of a case.

"Appreciation." He drew her left hand up for kisses also.

"Okaaaaay. What brought this on?"

"Nothing. I just don't want to take you for granted."

While she was happy to hear that, his timing was very odd. Her tone remained unsold, "That's good, I guesssss….You do realize we are in the middle of a case. People are missing."

"I **absolutely **do. Have you seen Esposito? He looks worse than I did when Vulcan Simmons had you. And you know what?" He grabbed her up in his arms, creating a little 'London Bridge' prison with his right hand clasping his left wrist, trapping her elbows inside awkwardly. He beamed, "I got you back. You are right here in front of me, and you need to know that every **day**, every **minute I get** is what I prayed for while you were gone."

His eyes readjusted to look into her caught-off-guard expression. His features bent to show her that he was 100% serious. "Every kiss is my prayer of gratitude."

She captured his lips with her own ardent appreciation. Kate didn't feel like kissing Castle in the midst of the craziness swirling around them would be a waste of her time. Even though she was very concerned with making every moment count, and bringing Evans home, she saw that particular kiss as aiding that end. It was _her_ prayer.

Her mouth sang into his, in warm, wet, cherishing moans and silent intercessions…

…That the brave Kai-Rhee would get to sigh the relief that comes when one realizes one is out of harm's way, just as she had when Bracken intervened in her ordered execution.

…That her friend Esposito would be released from the terrible tightness in the chest that comes when someone close to you goes missing, just as she had when she found Rick in a baseball cap hiding incognito in the New York Public Library.

…That Espo and Evans would get the chance to make the surreal idea of a 'return to safety' real for each other, just as she and Castle had done when he returned from France with Alexis.

…That whatever they found out would be used in support of justice for all the voices they had heard on the headsets, just as she'd been able to do for Rick and Martha and all the citizens who walked safely out of the bank lobby after being held hostage.

As her fiancé moaned back his love and gratitude for all they'd managed to pull through, for all they'd managed to accomplish, she knew their moment of passion wasn't selfish.

That particular kiss wasn't for her. It was a prayer. And a damn good one.

* * *

_**Thank you everyone for reading and especially for those who can review. We are so close! Happy Hiatus! **_

_**Next up: Why is Ryan confronting zombies again? Who's hesitant to give Castle the big guns? And (my favorite) what was little Katie Beckett's favorite imaginary game?**_


	20. Chapter 20

"You really are a nerd under all that cop-ness, huh, Ryan?" Fitz was impressed. "I haven't seen someone dig up that kinda research since my buddy wrote a story about two policemen who fall in love in a post-vital world. And that was research on zombies. _**Zombies!**__**"**_

Ryan looked up from his examination of accumulated intel compiled on Fitz' desktop. "I'm not sure that '_research__'_ on the undead** counts** as research, in a strict sense."

Wheeler gushed, "That's what _**I**_ thought…until I read it. You wouldn't _believe_ the realism of the toxicology reports, the news articles, even CDC warnings about treatments for 'complex cardiovascular atrophy.' Knocked my socks off! I'd resisted drinking the rotter-bandwagon kool-aid for years, not even _Shaun of the Dead_ could turn me! But that one story, _**Bam!**_**"**

Ryan was glad Fitz didn't know the story behind how he, himself, had gotten drawn into zombie fever. The level of embarrassment Kev felt as he recalled the exchange would make Fitzy look like the king of cool. Even if his alter ego, Fenton, was a smooth operator, garden-variety Kevin was definitely not. The detective was eager to move on from the memory, playing on repeat like a tweet gif in his mind:

_RYAN: "I mean, he does __**look**__ like a real zombie."_

_ESPOSITO: "A real zombie? I'm embarrassed for you, bro."_

Kevin coughed to interrupt it's continuous loop. "Ahem. So it was the 'science' of the story that got cha?"

Cordon admitted, "I tell myself that, but I'm the worst romantic. It's embarrassing. Sucker sits by his side, waiting for the bastard to stop locking him out. Everyone else falls away, no one else sticks by him as he slowly trades his humanity for an existence plagued with the most inhuman social leprosy. The angst! The redemption!" He shook his fists toward the ceiling. "The rock bottom of snapping a rat's head off in your teeth because the yearning for flesh is too overwhelming to fight!" Fitz brought the back of his hand to rest on his forehead in dramatic swoon. "You had me at idiopathic haemolytic necrosis."

When Ryan chuckled at his histrionics, Fitzy struggled to refrain from adding,_ '__Plus, their flesh didn__'__t rot in that universe, so overall the smut was a lot hotter.__'_

Ryan was glad to see his running mate had recovered his sense of humor after what they'd seen together the day before. The hours in between had felt like days. Judging by the empty coffee cups littering every flat surface in the room, he guessed that Cordon had slept as poorly as he had. Kev goaded his counterpart's improved mood by asking, "So, I take it his persistence paid off? The characters get together in the end?"

"Well, I wouldn't have stayed up reading for three nights straight, no pun intended, if they didn't." Wheeler's bliss faded, "but real life's not like that. There are very real obstacles to getting the guy of your dreams. I don't expect it will happen for me. Too much planet standing between me and acceptance. Too much fear…" His voice trailed off to a whisper. "…and misunderstanding."

Ryan hated to see his new friend's mirth replaced by pessimism so quickly. "Well, _**I**__**'**__**m**_ still a romantic."

'_Of course, he is.__'_ Cordie marveled at the almost cartoonishly drawn perfection of Detective Ryan's camelot life. He wasn't jealous of Kev's lot, as much as the ease it brought in relating to others. "Oh, don't worry about me, Detective. I've been spoon-fed too much _Industrial Light and Magic_ to get broody about the state of human relations. 'Impossible' is not really a word I'm comfortable with. It's hereditary."

"That's good to hear. Still, I sure hope _**my**_ research leads us down a road with a lot more functional heartbeats and a lot less beheaded rodents."

"Hear hear."

"I'm headed over to fill in the others. You comin'?"

"I'll catch up. Gotta check on the other brat pack delinquents. Cannon and Kreuger get into trouble if I leave them alone too long."

\o/

* * *

Fitz found Kreuger moving through karate kata alone in the dojo. If Kai-Rhee hadn't gone missing, that's what everyone would be doing at that hour. He looked like he was fighting invisible, slow-motion assailants with a series of memorized movements. His concentration appeared to border on desperation, as if his life depended on perfection of the forms.

After a moment of watching, Wheeler slipped off his sandals and took his usual spot on the floor behind and to the right of his friend. They moved together through the shapes their sensei had shown them, trying to muster the same intensity that she had demanded of them every weekday over the past month.

When they completed 108 earnestly wrought tableaus, Kreuger turned to Fitz in a bow. The smaller man took his place as practice opponent and they began the kata of a combatant pair. Luckily for both men, Evans allowed nothing more than codified strikes, kicks and blocks in rehearsal for a fight. If their fists had flown in earnest, Fitz could not have matched Kreuger's lethally emptied mind, just as Kreuger had no prayer of contending with Fitzy's passionate life-force.

It was better for both that they practice. They had a lot of precision to embody before they could comport some degree of control over more than one hundred ways of being human. Both men agreed that all their expressions leading up to that point would needlessly endanger the lives of others.

\o/

* * *

Ryan found Beckett and Castle pouring over blue prints and maps in the kitchen with Espo and Hoax. "Hey, so, turns out our Doctor Carrion is more than just a whiz with photons and financial tools."

"How's that?" Castle and Beckett answered in unison, causing them to shift uncomfortably in front of Hoax who'd never seen their shared brain in action.

Well-acquainted with Caskett-think, Kevin answered without skipping a beat, "After winning the Fleery-Penderson Prize for young scientists with his PhD thesis in theoretical physics, he was snatched up by JD Harding to create mathematical models forecasting the growth patterns of emerging economies. He was so successful in creating predictive tools, that eventually the parent company, Halifax-Burtomb, stopped farming out his models for sale and offered him a job with their military research group to build algorithms. They hired him to predict successful strategies in insurgent warfare."

"That's how he's connected to the military industrial complex," Beckett concluded.

"And explains his interest in an Iraq war veteran," Castle agreed.

She posed, "But what does he need her for now? How does building mathematical models get him back to target practice with cutting edge weapons?"

"Well, that might have something to do with his daughter." Ryan pinned the doc's headshot up to the murder board on the back of the pantry door along with a second photo of a woman. "Doctor Matthew Carrion, born Matthew Pietros Shepherd, met and married Grace Carrion when they studied physics together at Berkeley." Ryan pointed alternately between the photos of the couple. "He took her name to align himself with her family's high society reputation and simultaneously show his solitary with her staunch equal-rights politics."

Beckett shot a vindicated eyebrow raise to Castle at the mention of a man taking his bride's name, since that discussion had been a hot topic between them over the weekend.

Ryan continued, "The two had a daughter, Sylphia." He pinned up a third photo of a young redheaded woman in dark uniform. "And both enjoyed a good deal of success in their respective careers until Grace was killed in an auto accident while their daughter was still in high school."

Richard cringed guilty with the reminder that he'd come very close to orphaning Alexis with his volunteer heroics alongside the NYPD. But calmed quickly when he looked to Beckett's beautiful sleuthing face, which reminded him why he'd done so in the first place.

"Sylphia, understandably, had a difficult adjustment period, and decided to join the Marines after graduation rather than go to college." Ryan glanced briefly to his spiral pocket notepad. "Carrion and his daughter seemed to be improving their relationship while she was deployed overseas. She wrote poetry about her experiences in the desert, some of it is published online, much of it references her father."

Espo stepped closer to the photo of the redhead to try to see the soldier inside her youthful green eyes.

Kevin drew out his introduction to prepare his friends for the bad news. "Buuuut Slyphia was injured in battle, and committed suicide shortly after being shipped to Fort Hood for recovery." Ryan fielded Esposito's unguarded wide-eyed reaction for an instant, before the older detective could catch himself and avert his gaze cooly back to the photo.

Kevin turned back to Kate. "After that, Carrion consolidated all his research efforts to an 'undisclosed location,' and presumably moved permanently to the island. He cut off his contact with friends and family. None of his former colleagues have heard from him since."

Beckett drew the lines immediately. "That explains the fascination with_ personal_ defense instead of larger strategic models. Maybe he's building something that could've saved his daughter in combat."

"Or afterwards," Castle posited.

Kate heard a theory brewing in the writer's tone. "How do you mean?"

"Well, from what I know of post-traumatic recovery, it's the lost utility, the feeling that the injured person has nothing to contribute in the way that he or she did before that can be hardest to recover from. Perhaps Carrion is working on something that would put wounded soldiers back in the field, give them a new job on the team, rather than send them home without a clear role to fulfill, or purpose in life."

Beckett leapfrogged, "If his daughter was feeling like she didn't have a place in the world anymore, that might have contributed to her taking her own life."

"That's exactly what her last blogged poems allude to," Ryan corroborated. "It's _**not**_ light reading." Kev shuddered in an attempt to shake out the image of an automaton's rotting flesh, placed in his mind by Sylphia's words.

He was unsuccessful. Some images, too exquisitely drawn, simply can't be erased after an author illuminates them inside a reader's mental theatre.

\o/

* * *

Cannon hoisted himself up the ladder from the bunker under the ice box. "All finished, Boss." He poked his head out of the walk-in door to signal his readiness for Hoax' next directive. "Ammo stocked with appropriate sidearms, components cleaned, mechanisms lubed. You've got enough C4 to send Krypton to Atlantis, but only half a dozen RPG's with guidance systems. I wouldn't use those recoilless guns, though, unless you'd like a close shave." The big blonde twisted his features before mentioning, "I think you got sold some disposable refurb garbage in that trade."

Hoax explained, "It was part of the grab bag. I knew they were schlock. Took 'em to get a bulk deal on the Composition 4." He looked briefly into the faces of each person present in turn. "No one uses the long tubes that go boom unless it saws 'LAW with coupler' on the side. _**Comprende**_?"

Espo, Ryan, Beckett, Cannon, Fitz, Kreuger, Balboa and Creed all nodded in agreement.

Hoax stared a second time at Castle, since he didn't appear to be paying attention.

Rick raised his hands in surrender. "No worries about me. I've no intention of firing a warhead from my shoulder." Already wishing he'd packed his custom Kevlar, he pointed across the 'Justice League' insignia of the red T-shirt on his chest, explaining, "My vest says, '_**WRITER.**_'"

When the author's assurance didn't satisfy the unconvinced eyes of his NYPD partners, he defended, "What?"

Espo volunteered, "You've been known to get a little wild west, when shit goes down, Castle."

"I can't imagine what you mean…?"

Kev and Javi turned their faces toward each other to synch matching eye rolls.

Beckett could name a dozen examples offhand, but bit her tongue. Instead she warned, "Just don't go 'space cowboy' on us, if we actually have to engage with laser pistols, alright?"

"Hey, I'm about to be a happily married man. My days of mindless risk-taking are over. I have a future to protect."

The three detectives stared at their shadow with skepticism unabated. Under the eye fleecing, Castle testified to Kate, "I swear! I'm _**retired**_ from all that and perfectly happy to live out my golden years in New York with you."

Cannon offered to take some heat off. "Just ask me before you pick something up, Nermal. I'll let you know if you can handle it. Gotta keep your ruggedly handsome face in tact."

\o/

* * *

Perhaps it was the boys' debate over super heroes early that morning, or maybe it was the way the light filtered through the trees as she followed Hoax down the path to the newly erected lookout tower, but whatever the stimuli, Detective Beckett found herself submersed in a wave of nostalgia for the days when being a super-friend filled her with joy.

A special memory came rushing back to Katherine. She didn't know if she remembered it as a first person account, or held onto the details from her mother's retelling, but either route seemed just as dear.

*o*

Little Katie Beckett had never been so happy in all her 4 and a half years (at least, not that she could remember), but **not** because her assignment was easy. On the contrary, being a daughter of Aphrodite was challenging work. There were no end to the number of 'bad guys' that needed a dose of her flying tiara magic to snap them back in line. In fact, she'd already found at least half a dozen in the forest since they'd arrived. Just in the time that her mom and dad had unpacked the car into the cabin, she'd already subdued three.

Camping seemed like such a 'big girl' thing to do. She was eager to show everyone how brave she could be sleeping out of doors on a bed of red pine needles in a lean-to she intended to make all by herself.

As soon as the car door opened, Katie set off straight away into the stand of trees adjacent their campsite to collect appropriately sized sticks for her structure. She hoped to have it all built and ready before mom and dad could question her plan to sleep under the stars. She was sure they'd change their minds after they saw what a competent survivalist she'd turned out to be.

Only trouble was, imaginary bad guys kept sticking their heads out from behind trees. One wielded a ray gun, one brandished a net that tried to trap her, and another shot gooey purple slime at her from his slime-o-matic. None of them were a match for Wonder Kate, though.

"Take that!" She deflected the first shots with her lighting reflexes and gold (plastic) wrist bracelets.

"Oh no you don't!" Then she used her boots to wheel kick the net into a pile of useless webbing.

"Where do you think _**you**__**'**__**re**_ going?" Finally, she ran in a circle so fast that all the gooey ooze funneled into a lavender blob suspended in mid-air. When her velocity made her look like a blur of red, blue and gold, she created a tornado effect that redirected the purply stream back to her assailant.

"Being Wonder Woman is hard work." She slapped her hands against each other to brusk off any evil-cooties she might have picked up from her dirty work.

"There's never a day off!" lil Katie huffed, as she roped the sillies who dared to try to thwart her. As she raced back and forth with sticks she wanted to test for size and strength, she complained to her mom who was packing food into the locking cabinet. "It's really not fair."

Jim Beckett noticed his daughter's game as he carried a stack of bedding inside. "What's the problem, Katie?"

"I can't even go on vacation, without _'__four sez of evil__'_ following me!"

Johanna Beckett nodded her commiseration over her task of sandwich making. As if being a mom wasn't enough of a round-the-clock job, she'd started to _dream_ of cases that weren't solved to her satisfaction, some of which weren't ever _**her**_ cases. If she couldn't spare enough moments to tease out a new angle during the day, her mind seemed intent on co-opting restful sleep time for brainstorming. Johanna had hoped that camping would be a nice diversionary reset, allowing her mind to recalibrate to a more natural rhythm, like the birds, and raccoons, and moonrises she observed out her kitchen window.

Katie whined, "Don't I ever get a break?"

Lil Kate's mom was wondering, herself, whether the 'bad guys' that plagued her thoughts would be following her on their weekend getaway.

"They just seem to be _everywhere_!"

"I know what you mean. What shall we do about it?" Johanna posed, trying to ignore the peanut butter stain on her daughter's shirt. Wonder Kate had refused to wear anything but that same Wonder Woman t-shirt everyday since summer vacation had started. The iron-on decal was disintegrating at the edges and the image had patina-ed into something vaguely resembling a sunburst pinwheel rather than Lynda Carter as warrior princess.

'_What a silly thing for mom to say!__' _Katie sighed in exasperation."What we _**always**_ do! Save the world, agaaaain." She punched determined fists onto her hip bones. "A hero's work is never done!"

Johanna smiled. This kid, that the fates had seen fit to bless her with, was really something. Even though she was quiet around grown ups, it was only a matter of time until she had them wrapped around her tender little finger. Jim veritably crowned her queen of all daddy playtime. Sometimes Johanna had to take a number just to retrieve her husband's attention. But she didn't mind. It was quite clear Jim and Katie had been friends in whatever realm they'd lived before this lifetime. Perhaps he'd also fatefully crashed the Amazons' island party on Themyscira?

Mr. Beckett joined his wife in lunch preparations. As they both watched their daughter flying her invisible jet plane with fists outstretched, zooming as fast as her knobby knees would carry her, bounding over equally invisible foes, Jim questioned, "Is this more Wonder Woman mania she's playing at?"

Johanna didn't see the harm in encouraging her daughter's latest fixation. She'd recently read a fascinating article on the character's creator. She was taken in by the fact that the same man who created a lie-detector test had made her daughter's favorite ground-breaking character. She used Marston's own words to defend her indulgence to Jim. "Wonder Woman is psychological propaganda for the new type of woman who should, I believe, rule the world."

Jim exclaimed, "Ha! That's Katie alright."

As she arranged lunch on the picnic table, Mrs. Beckett mused on the possibilities._'__The world she is growing up in is so very different than mine. It won__'__t be novel for __**her**__ to become a lawyer, or a judge, or even a policemen.__' _Johanna looked up to see Katherine hanging from a branch of a tree before pulling herself up over it._ '__If she had a mind for it, I bet she could even make __**detective,**__ by the time she__'__s old enough for the job. It__'__ll be handy that she__'__s had so much practice with that Lasso of Truth.__' _

Once all the see-through villains had been throughly hog-tied and handed over to 'proper authorities,' Wonder Girl was ready to transform back into her alter ego. She set her gaze on the tallest tree top she could see across the cedar lake, and prepared to turn. She spun and spun and spun til the sky, and pointy tops of evergreens blurred into a whirling spin-art of transformation.

When she thought she might fall over from dizziness, lil Kate announced. "Alright, baddies, I'm just Diana now, so don't pull any funny business. I have a shelter to build!"

* * *

_**Thanks all, for reading.**_

_**Even though I**__**'**__**m clearly a fan of the boys with women, I have to give master props to the inspiring work of slash author The Black Sluggard whose Life series inspired Fitzy**__**'**__**s fan gush in the first scene of this chapter. If you can hang with Rysposito love in a very AU world, Quality of Life and it**__**'**__**s successors are some of the best writing you**__**'**__**ll find IMHO. **_

_**Next up: Lasers and Detectives and Schematics, oh my! Is there anything more thrilling than adding 3 smoking hot fictional NYPD Homicide Detectives and 1 brilliant writer to the mix of a mystery? **_

* * *

_**Speaking of originality, by request, here's a crib note for our proliferating OC's joining the beloved Castle Cast: (totally OPTIONAL reference, for those who are curious or lost in the woods of this sprawling adventure about to climax) **_

_**Trainers:**_

1. Kai-Rhee/Valkyrie/Valedictoria Evans/Master Sergeant US Army/ Special Forces Qualification Trainer/ Camp Krypton Head trainer from New Orleans

2. Hoax/Horatio Camacho/ Lieutenant US Army/ Camp Krypton Assistant trainer from Mexico City, 'emigrated' to US in childhood

3. Simon/name & affiliations unknown/Camp Krypton Assistant trainer from North Eastern Nigeria

(Plus: Music/Simon's Black Labrador Retriever & Harmony/ Hoax' German Shepard)

_**Clients:**_

4. Fitz/Cordon "Cordie" Wheeler/Software engineer & entrepreneur/ from North Bay San Francisco Area, currently living in Los Angeles

5. Cannon/NRA trust fund inheritor/former college football star from Texas/Oklahoma/Arkansas area

6. Kreuger/Wall Street trust fund inheritor/ from Southern California

7. Balboa/Adelphian "Delphi" Raj Adnan/ Translator & Linguistic specialist/ Entrepreneur / Retired US Military consultant from Iraq & Greece, currently retired to Atlanta, GA

8. Creed/Robert "Bob" Washington Creedon, III/ Communications Tech Engineer & Surveillance Specialist / Entrepreneur/ Retired US Military from Alabama, currently retired to Atlanta, GA

_**Emerald City Connections:**_

9. Ensign Pedro "Peddie" Esposito/ active U.S. Coast Guard / Detective Esposito's younger paternal cousin from Florida

10. General Clarence "Charlie" Byrd/ Big Byrd / Kai-Rhee's "Uncle Charlie" /Advisor to the President of the United States on the Joint Chiefs of Staff

11. Kent Clarkson/ Gromit / former Krypton client/ Advisory Board for Military Defense R & D

12. Benjamin "Ben" Cour / Chairman of Advisory Board for Military Defense R & D

13. Matthew Pietros Shepard Carrion, PhD / Doc / Research scientist and mathematician with background in theoretical physics and economic models / former employee of subsidiary JD Harding / current employee of parent company Halifax-Burtomb

14. Grace Carrion / deceased wife of Matthew, mother of Sylphia

15. Sylphia Carrion / US Marines veteran / deceased daughter of Matthew and Grace

16. Shannon / Research Assistant employed by Halifax-Burtomb

_**Past:**_

17. Lt. Commander Earnest Percival Walker / former trainer for Special Forces Qualification Course / Specialist in asset placement / deceased husband of Gladys and step-father to Kai-Rhee

18. Leroy Evans / Kai-Rhee's estranged biological father

19. Lamar / US Army / Kai-Rhee's best friend from Afghanistan Platoon

_**But my favorite **__**'**__**Original Characters**__**' **__**are YOU, HEROIC READERS, with the staggering mental capacity to follow along and charm me with your witty reviews! Loveballz! **_


	21. Chapter 21

Kai-Rhee still couldn't command her body to her satisfaction, but her mind was _**wide**_ awake. Doctor Carrion's examination had introduced a host of ideas that she had never considered before. After an hour steeped in speculation, she stood in the middle of a simulation, poised to test one of his farfetched theories. With barely the strength to stand, her mind was filled with more questions than answers.

'_What the __**hell **__d'I get myself into now?'_

From behind the thickly plated glass of an observation area, Carrion spoke through a PA system to Kai-Rhee on the other side of the concrete wall. "Try to relax your mind. You don't need to force anything to happen."

Evans was drawn into his soothing voice because it rang with genuine caring. If his operation did turn out to be using people unethically, she had trouble believing that Matthew had anything to do with it. Everything about him revealed nothing but the best intentions with his work.

"Don't think of it as a gun. It's not a cold mechanism. Don't even think of it as something separate from yourself. Instead try to imagine that your hand is whole again. Attempt to accept it as part of yourself."

'_Easier said than done.__' _Releasing her phantom limb hadn't been an easy assignment. She'd returned to active combat long before she could shake the feeling that her middle digit was still attached, and sometimes in mind-bending pain. That was her secret. Evans had lied to her physicians when it came time for her re-eval. She needed to be back with her unit. For her, that was priority one.

It was Simon who'd left the mirror on her doorstep, even though Kai-Rhee had no idea why at the time. When it sat untouched, he'd risked capture to come and show her how to use it. That was the first time she saw her guardian's face up close after the day they'd detained him.

With only silent motions, Simon asked her to sit, placed the mirror between her knees so that the reflection faced her left hand, and prompted her to wiggle each of her fully functional fingers. When Evans saw the illusion of a restored right appendage working in the mirror, her mind released her from agony. The pain was gone. Her phantom limb sensation returned from time to time, but free of discomfort.

Between that day and his later appearances in combat, Simon had literally saved her life with smoke and mirrors.

Carrion interrupted her remembrance, "Try moving your hands without looking directly at them. Just catch their movement out of the corner of your eye."

Standing stiffly, alone in a cell block of discarded test equipment, she felt closed in by grey walls pocked with burn marks. Evans hadn't regained full control of her reflexes, but she was able to comply to simple requests slowly. She gave herself permission to play along until her quicker faculties came back. _'This little exercise might reveal all the intel I need.' _

"Good. Now look ahead to the target. Notice the threat of the M16 pointed directly at you. Imagine you could block the bullets just by holding your right hand up to stop them."

A loud 'ga-chung' of the dummies' gun firing startled the room. Evans' adrenaline shot through her veins. She hit the deck before her conscious mind issued any executive orders.

Carrion congratulated, "Okay. You're half way there. The device registered enough impulse to trigger the sensors on the dummy."

Shannon explained through the speakers, "The sound heightens your response level, but there are no bullets. You can get up now."

'_Sheesh, scientists can be some twisted muthas.__' _

"Coulda warned me."

Matthew explained, "Unfortunately, no, that would have lessened the response beyond its effective range. Apologies for that."

She pulled herself gradually back to standing. Most of her joints remained slow to respond, but due to the internal chemical boost, her muscle fibers surged with increased energy to overcome their stricture. Evans asked her heartbeat to slow. She wanted to clear her head for another try.

"This time try imagining that you can knock the weapon out of it's hand, as if you were standing close enough to swat it away."

Kai-Rhee tried to picture the image, but didn't move her hand as she did so.

A sensor registered a benign clicking noise, but no sound of gunfire. Matthew's mouth turned down in disappointment. He suggested, "Can you throw a punch? Try closing your eyes and seeing the attacker right in front of you, within striking distance."

The Valkyrie stood tensed in her internal battle, motionlessly striking out against invisible demons, wondering why or how any of this meant anything.

When she didn't move Carrion coached, "Don't worry about swinging your arms. The intensity is set very low. At most you might get a little singe, but no permanent damage. This is just a test. There's nothing to worry about."

Kai-Rhee's curiosity rose, _'__If he neglected to tell me about realistic gunfire sounds, I wonder what a __**real**__ punch would do?__' _ Having no interest in curving her hand so that the device's tip pointed in any direction except away from her, she closed her eyes and drew her ki into the preparation for knife hand strike. After 6 seconds of gathering intensity, she opened her eyes wide, issued her silent "key-eye," and sliced the air with a precise thrust.

Instantaneously, a chorus of sensors alarmed the room. The rifle flew out of the dummy's arms and skidded across the floor.

Shannon stood abruptly sending his chair toppling backwards behind him. He wasn't on the PA, but shared his surprise with the Doc. "She did it! She actually did it. No triggers."

Matthew Carrion nodded at his co-worker before depressing the button to release his voice into the test chamber. "I believe that it exactly what we are looking for." His mature eyes lit up in something like boyhood glee. "Do you think you could do that again?"

\o/

* * *

On the way back from their group inspection of the second lookout tower, Hoax tried to engage Esposito with a little conversation. It was grating on the big guy that Espo could stay so intense and broody for so long. As the person present who'd witness the most action with Evans, Hoax was NOT very worried about Kai-Rhee. Of course he was ready to help, but he didn't like anyone's chances against the Master Sergeant. Mostly, he wanted to get in on some of the action before she took everyone out single-handedly. _'__I__'__d be just like her to save all the ass-whoopin for herself without sharing. Greedy, greedy.__' _

As Esposito's pace naturally migrated him ahead of the group, Hoax jogged to catch up, asking, "Do you miss this?"

Espo was trying to keep himself calm, but irritation inevitably spilled out. "What? Wondering if my friends are alive? And hoping that I can do something to save them? No. Definitely not."

"Not even a little? Not even the adrenaline?"

"Well, it's not entirely gone from my life. You wouldn't believe the shit Castle and Beckett get us into. But I am much happier making the deaths right, than being the one to carry them out." Javier still had it in him if he needed to use his gun, but he didn't have anywhere near as much ignorant bliss allowing him to pull the trigger.

"Is zat why you joined homicide?" The big man had been trying to understand the differences in his old buddy. He didn't feel like much had changed since the time they'd graduated from Horatio and Javier to Hoax and Roc. The missions metastasized, the guns got bigger, but the people all had the same bullshit excuses for not enjoying their lives while they had 'em. Krypton and the clients were no exception. And even though the scenery was different, in Camacho's mind the world still stepped to two drumbeats solamente: the battlefield and the dance floor. No matter if his feet followed the fife of war or the cajon of a neighborhood block party, he was all in. That's all folks needed to know.

Espo answered before thinking. "I didn't really know how much I'd like it until _**after**_ I joined…" The detective's thoughts drifted through the faces of his partners, and the feeling he consistently got in the morning when it was time to get ready for work. "…but now I wouldn't trade it."

"I can't imagine the desk, the paperwork, the city, ugh…commuting. Sounds like hell in a to-go box, brother."

"Well, I don't love the sitting. But New York's got a life of it's own, and it's good to be home…" Javier added quietly, "…now that I've got something I love doing."

"I don't get it. What do you love about it? You arrest people, right?"

"Well, most of my job is figuring out which people to arrest. And, yes, some of it can be ridiculously boring, but being with good partners makes up for that part." He stared ahead down the trail, explaining, "No, what gets me out of bed in the morning is the whole process. A murder, a mess of lethal secrets, a way to make it as right as it can be."

"Huh? But why? Why do you care who did it?" To Hoax, dead was dead. No matter how it happened, end of story. He'd rather see folks toasting his name, and enjoying the sun, than trying to put together the gory details of what eventually did him in.

"Look around." Javier motioned to the rag tag group of volunteers trying to bring Kai-Rhee home, from the millionaires to the public servants. "Every person you ever meet is headed toward this thing, this end that no one wants to look at or think about. People make big deals about the beginning of life, spend tons of energy on everything about birthdays. But not many can look the other way, thinking about death just scares them. I'm not judging, but I need to look. Everyone's eyes are facing this one way, but there's something bigger than us in the other direction. That's where I can be the most use."

Hoax gave Espo the same concerned look that most people don when someone admits a fascination with death.

Javi defended, "I get that most people can't handle it, or find it morbid. But for me, that's where the answers are. When I think about _**my**_ last day on earth, I know exactly what I'm supposed to do with today. All the distractions melt away."

Camacho lit up with a devilish smile. "Oh, I know what to do with the day when I wake up." He punched his right fist into his left, so that the tattoo of a black rose collided with a the swirly scripted palabra, 'RedKisses.' "Her name might change, but the urge is always the same." The hulking giant mimed something like a mechanical bull ride, flailing wildly, complete with pleasurable howls that scared a dozen birds out of the trees overhead.

Espo laughed before he could check himself for an appropriate response. 300 pounds of man muscle actin' a fool was no match for propriety.

The ridiculous display broke Javi out of his reflective trance. After he snapped back to the current moment, and familiar jesting with Hoax, he realized how odd it felt to talk about his feelings on work. Clearly, his worry was getting to him. If anyone could open him up to peek at the contents, it was definitely Kai-Rhee. He couldn't imagine Evans in New York inducing that kind of navel-gazing honesty in his everyday life. '_Between that and the sex, I__'__d never get anything done.__' _He admitted, _'__Alright, maybe I wouldn__'__t mind it __**so**__ much.__'_

\o/

* * *

"I saw her!"

Simon burst into the kitchen to find everyone assembled and ready to go over the tactical plan Espo and Hoax had been working on.

"Where?" Rick was first to ask.

"Is she okay?" Espo followed.

"All one piece. On beach."

Castle had never heard Simon speak more than three English words in succession, though he appeared to speak extremely fluent 'you-grunts-are-sorry-sacks-of-unskilled-mental-midgets' in half a dozen other languages. Rick rather enjoyed being berated in the mellifluous tones of foreign lands while ramming his knees into his elbows for an exercise called 'spider man mountain climbers.' It was a nice change of pace.

"Is she back?" Hoax looked out the window.

"No. Over there."

Javi's patience waned. "What was she doing? Why didn't she come back?"

"I show. Come."

\o/

* * *

When the adrenaline wore off, so did most of Kai-Rhee's fine motor control. Whatever caused her to black out did a number on her. She hadn't ruled out foul play, not in the slightest. But there remained much to see, and she had a much better chance of seeing it from the inside.

Still, she had to get word out to Simon and the gang before they put themselves, and others, in danger. _'__If I can buy just a little more time, maybe I can get my answers without involving anyone else.__' _

However, her first priority was discretion. She didn't want anyone in Emerald City to have any electronic link whatsoever to the folks on Krypton. They didn't need to know who or how many were over there, that's why she'd left her cell phone at home. At least the contacts were safe. If she used any of their phones or computers, they'd have a way to trace the person on the other end. In her mind, that was an unacceptable risk.

She didn't know if they'd let her waltz back over to camp, but anyone following her would immediately recognize Ryan and Beckett, and expose their deception. All roads lead to premature escalation, unless she could send word without direct contact.

Nonchalantly, she asked, "Doc, can we try this on the beach? I've heard that's where you bring out the big guns."

"Well sure, but I don't think we should move on to higher intensities, yet. There are still so many tests to run. And your eyes…I couldn't guarantee safety until we take a number of precautions."

Evans saw his words saying 'no' and his body saying 'yes,' as he got up to gather items.

"I'll take my chances." She baited, "I just feel too confined in here. I know I could get better results, with a bigger playground."

Carrion couldn't believe how his luck had turned around in one week. Months of stagnant number crunching, and failed trials, and redesigns, and dead-ends had brought him close to the edge of sanity. If he'd had any semblance of a life to go back to, he surely would've abandoned the project. But in the past 4 days, his work seemed to be having it's own Archimedean epiphany, with two Eureka moments in close succession. The first one had blown a hole in the roof of his biomechanics lab, but the results had been pretty inspiring.

Shannon couldn't believe his ears, '_This is her, __**confined**__?__'_

Matthew prattled aloud,_ "_We'll need to gather some safety gear…" So much movement, after so much stagnation, felt like free-fall. Paranoia that Evans' results were too good to be true, that terrible consequences might result from haste, fought with his desperation to prove his time on the island had come to something, that he could still contribute something needed to the world. "…and my suit. Shannon, will you fetch it?"

\o/

* * *

Simon lead the group to the same jetty that Beckett and Castle had visited when they spotted a worrying scene. The grotto beyond was empty, but he described what he'd seen.

"Kai-Rhey there. Suit a Man." Simon moved his arm in a striking motion while extending two fingers long. "Green light fah."

Beckett clarified, "You saw the Master Sergeant in that cave, Simon? And a green light? Simon, did you see them use a laser, a thin beam of light?"

When he nodded affirmatively with a gravely serious face, Beckett's eyes searched Castle's. "Simon, are you sure you didn't see her get hurt?"

"No hurt. She shot."

Esposito could barely hear the words his alarm was so great.

Luckily, Ryan was standing next to him and knew what to do. He placed a grounding hand on his partner's shoulder, and waved his other hand at Adnan standing at the back of the group. "Hey, Champ, you help us out with this?" Kev knew asking Javi to use his French wouldn't give them the objective intel they needed. He'd protect his best friend from having to hear the news first if he could.

Delphi pardoned his way through the group, and started making a number of overtures to Simon in various languages. Eventually, they began to flow back in forth in less choppy cadences.

The New York foursome's eyes darted back forth as the volleys and returns between the Nigerian and the Mediterranean increased in speed and length.

When finally they rested their tongues, and the flourish of curious hand gestures that accompanied them, Castle's curiosity nearly tackled Balboa. "What? What'd he say?"

"Kai-Rhee is okay. For now. She signaled to Simon the sign for waiting." He lifted his palms skyward and wiggled his fingers. "Whatever she's got cooking in there. She appears to be in control of the situation, for the moment."

"Control, my ass. Then why didn't she come tell us herself?" This was not the news Espo was looking for. More waiting.

Beckett attempted some clarifications, "So, if she's not hurt. What did Simon mean by 'she shot.'?"

"Apparently, it's Kai-Rhee who was doing the shooting. And quite successfully by the sounds of it. If you can see those two rather large boulders over there just to the right of the grotto's entrance…?" Adnan pointed and waited for their squinting eyes to zero in. "It seems that those were two halves of a whole, not but an hour ago."

Beckett shot Castle a knowing look of 'this bares out your theory,' that she hoped the others didn't see just yet.

"Are you trying to tell me Valkyrie did that?" Hoax had seen her go loco before, but not usually on large pieces of bedrock.

Simon nodded, while Adnan answered for him. "It seems that way."

\o/

* * *

By the time Kev and Javi made it back to Kai-Rhee's quarters, Espo was a mess.

"Bro, I gotta get in there. I have to know if she's alright. She can't be allowed to do this by herself."

"I know it's not what you want to hear. But if she said we should wait, then we should wait."

"And then what? How are we expected to know when waiting is over and she needs us?"

"Simon's still out there. He saw them re-enter that green tower. If they come out again, he'll let us know."

"And then what? Hoax and I couldn't come up with anything much better than our first approach. If we can't find another way in, they'll have the upper hand no matter what we do. We can't take that kind of risk. There aren't enough of us. It's cool that her clients want to help, but most of those boys are untrained. For a place that size, Hoax and I aren't much of a rescue op."

Kevin was concerned with the level of desperation in Javi's voice, which rarely rose to that level. Espo wasn't talking Ryan out of something, he was asking for help. "Bro, nobody's letting you and Hoax go in there alone." _'__Isn__'__t it clear by now that Kai-Rhee and those bodies mean something to more than just him?__'_

Espo shook his head in frustration and paced before he sat himself on her bed.

Kev attempted another pass. "What if we could find another way in?"

"What do you mean?"

The wheels of Kevin's deductive reasoning were turning wildly, lighting up his blue eyes with dancing sterno flames. "Wait here."

Espo watched Ryan run down the steps and out to the beach. From there he looked back up at Kai-Rhee's cliffside home with an opened-mouth smile. When he ran back up to his partner, he took the steps two at a time.

Breathless at the door, Kev hung just his head inside to say, "Come with me!"

\o/

* * *

Crowding all 11 people into Fitzy's computer-laden bed chamber was no easy feat, even the dogs wanted in to soothe their worried masters. The programmer nervously wormed his way through the crowd warning Espo and Hoax not to trip on the wires that criss-crossed his floor. "And you two!" He motioned to Cannon and Castle. "Don't touch _**anything**_!"

Both men shrugged in twin 6 foot towers of innocence.

Kevin Ryan drew attention to the first screen showing a map of the island. "So, this is Krypton…and this is Emerald City."

The group quieted to give the young detective their full attention. All week Castle had been bragging to his cohorts about the synergistic specialties of his NY team. They suspected they were in for a treat.

Kevin continued, "The people we heard on our headsets seem to be settled into a nice cozy long term stay somewhere on this island. But none of the buildings on this schematic match something that could house that many families without someone being seen."

Beckett concurred, "Except in those blue prints you got from the developer, which don't seem to match any of the buildings on the schematic."

He tapped on the screen. "Right. Unless we zoom out." The image reoriented to a cross section of the topography with sea level as the x-axis and the hill at the center of the island as the tallest vertical point.

Ryan's eyes glinted at Castle and Beckett. "See anything that might be tall enough to hold our missing persons?"

Just as Kevin had hoped, Caskett answered excitedly in unison, **"****They****'****re under the hill!****"**

\o/

* * *

"Bro, I don't know what you think she's gonna say when she finds out we didn't wait. She doesn't really seem the _forgiving_ type." Kevin didn't think Espo was thinking through what their plan might do to his relationship with his old flame.

Espo handed another pack of C-4 to Hoax who was lining them against Kai-Rhee's kitchen wall. He gave his partner a sly smile. Now that there was something to do, and an action plan in place, Espo's crippling helplessness was replaced with plenty of sauce for his partner. "I'm not worried. I'mma tell her it was _**your**_ idea."

\o/

* * *

After Fitz and Krueger finished hauling the last rolling cart full of explosives over to Cannon who was running them up the steps, the programmer turned to congratulate the raven-haired young man. "So, how does it feel to be the intel linch-pin in our plan to save Kai-Rhee?"

"I didn't do anything that she wouldn't do for us. You would've done the same, too."

"I would, if I could. But, alas, I know nothing about geologic formations, natural or otherwise."

"Guess something from those 2 semesters in Geo sunk in." Kreuger's tone turned sad, "…even if I was high for most of them."

"And to think I worried that you were all bod, and no brains." Fitz playfully punched Kreuger in the arm knocking him off his lean against the railing.

"Yeah, well, if any of my brain cells are still salvageable after what I put them through, I'll happily share some with you. Looks like you know what to actually **do** with them."

Kreuger certainly wasn't the most articulate of guys, but who could expect a smooth flow of sentence structure when he hadn't open his jaw in months? Fitz thought he was more likely to find rust around the dude's mandible than saliva.

Fitz was so surprised to hear him talk, he could barely accept the compliment. "Sometimes. Sometimes, I'm the biggest idiot I know."

\o/

* * *

After Evan's south-facing wall looked like an invasion of large grey lego's had infested, Hoax began to insert the blasting caps.

She'd chosen a hidden cavern for a home by design. To protect herself from hurricanes and whiny clients, Kai-Rhee wanted to build her quarters removed from base camp. When she found a cave three flights up, burrowing itself into the side of the cliff, she knew it would protect her from high winds and dolts prattling about minutia. If someone cared enough about their issue to make the trek and climb, she'd be assured that it was important.

To keep the water in the pipes cool, they'd run her plumbing as far back into the dark crevasse as possible. Hence, her kitchen provided the most penetrating access point to whatever was inside that hill.

Ryan looked around Evans' flat. "Maybe we should clear some of this out?" The idea of facing Kai-Rhee after they blew her home to smithereens didn't seem like an attractive option, even if they_** did**_ manage to save her life.

"I'm on it." Esposito was already wrapping up the journals from her step-dad under her bed. After counting to make sure he didn't miss one of the 13 volumes, he found a waterproof duffle in her closet, wrapped the stack in her dress blue service uniform and shoved them inside. Then he started filling a box with everything on her desk. Before he left, he threw the Franti CD on top of the pile, covering her manuscripts.

\o/

* * *

Hoax reported in to Beckett. "I think we're ready to blow. As soon as we get the sign, I've got the detonator."

Castle didn't know what he was rooting for. Blowing up any portion of Kai-Rhee's island seemed like a version of stabbing a wasp nest: it might just piss them off, and make them all the harder to catch. He wasn't eager to anger his Master **or** whoever thought themselves big enough to take her on.

On the other hand, since he had indeed been assigned command of a four-wheel ATV retro-fitted with a rocket launcher, tomorrow's surprise attack might register up there with saving New York from nuclear threat, in terms of excitement level.

Beckett questioned Hoax, "And you're sure we are not going to injure whoever is on the other side of that cliff?"

"I'm not sure of anything. But you saw the sample we drilled through her wall. My guess is we've got at least 20 feet of sediment to blow through before we get to something else. And who knows how strong _that_ wall will be. If it's made of alloy, instead of something porous like concrete, we might not even make a dent."

No part of this conversation was making Castle feel safer that Kai-Rhee wouldn't behead his man-parts. Even though he had nothing to do with the formation of their cockamaimy plan (well except for the part where he gets to drive the quad with the hand cannon), the writer felt sure that the Kai-wrath would be gunning for **him** _first_, before any questions were asked.

\o/

* * *

"Castle, what are we doing? None of this lines up."

At Kate's question, Rick snapped out of his daydreams of an all-American style rescue at red dawn.

Beckett continued, "Almost 2 dozen bodies, all with different times of death, piled in a mass grave, and left to rot. Kai-Rhee goes missing, but sends word to Simon that she's not ready for extraction."

Her eyes trailed over the impromptu murder board she'd made on the back of the pantry door. "And all those voices we heard, none of them seemed to be under duress or made mention of something wrong. We've got a chief researcher with an impeccable record, who's most likely working on something to help wounded soldiers. The Coast Guard hasn't seen anything except target practice on armored vehicles. And almost nothing Ryan and I saw inside was suspicious. If a nervous lab tech trying to pretend that he's the man in charge is the most evidence of deception we have, this case could be leading us to jump to conclusions."

"Well, what could those bodies be doing there? Why wouldn't they be buried? Or cremated?"

"Maybe that wasn't an option for whoever put them there. Maybe they didn't have time. Maybe the smoke would call attention." Beckett was running through all the logical branches of thought she could track.

Castle's eyes lit up with the familiar thrill of unexplored ideas. "Or _**maybe**_ they didn't need to. If no one ever goes outside on that compound, maybe a pile on the ground is all the obscurity the killer _needed_ to hide the evidence."

Beckett looked away in frustration. "I wish we could get Lanie here to examine the bodies. A cause of death would answer a lot of my questions right now."

Flush with the excitement that problem solving with Beckett always inspired, Rick shook the cocktail of resources at their disposal and sipped the possibilities. "Maybe we can…come with me."

\o/

* * *

_**Welcome, CastleFicathon readers to the most Marlow-ish mystery I've ever imagined, let alone tried to write. As the person most likely to space out and focus on the Castle cast's hair-dos and outfits as our beloved characters drone on about suspects, murder weapons and time of death during the actual show, it's basically a miracle that Kai-Rhee accomplished these details through my hands. Complaints can be directed directly to the muse, as I'm just the Sibyl with typing skills.**_

_******As always, I'm thankful for the excellent folks I've met in this fandom. Anonymous and otherwise, thanks for reading. **_

_**Next up: Lanie Parrish and Matthew Carrion drop the science. How do our lab-coated duo help to save the day? **_


	22. Chapter 22

"I guess it's a good thing that I am so easily motivated by cute boys." Cordie usually adopted the safer policy of 'don't ask, don't tell,' but with all the talk of death and dismemberment, it was harder for Fitzy to muster his usual level of self-censorship around who he was 'supposed' to find attractive. He shoved rubber gloves into his backpack along with the neoprene case he'd been hiding behind his bunk all month. In truth, Wheeler hadn't needed much convincing that taking the long run with Ryan back to the scene to record evidence for the NYPD medical examiner was a good idea.

After zipping his own backpack and slinging it over his shoulders, Kevin tried to take some of the pressure off. "Don't worry. I'll try to handle most of the unpleasantries myself, but I appreciate your help with the tech. Not sure I could handle such a tricky device when my hands are…" Ryan searched for a gentle way to say covered-in-blood, "…slippery."

"It's fine. I needed more exercise anyway. It seems my body's become accustomed to actually moving more than the 12 feet it takes me to walk to the John and the refrigerator, before I surgically re-attach myself to the computer screen again." Fitz shook his head at the disturbing development. "But I'm still not joining one of those muscle head gyms when I get home."

Under cover of darkness, Ryan and Wheeler broke into the same long-distance run that had made them friends the day before. Simon and Music followed the pair for protection, but the quiet chaperone kept climbing trees to lookout, occasionally distancing himself from the two shorter men. If Ryan hadn't heard panting and rustling of shrubs as the Labrador sniffed about, he wouldn't have known that either of them was keeping up.

To distract himself from creepy, running-through-the-woods-at-night thoughts, Fitz brought up the day's disclosures in a playful new light to Ryan. "So, Master Sergeant Psylocke. I didn't see that coming."

Ryan's mind raced to make the comparison to one of his favorite overtly sexualized X-men. Without effort, his imagination replaced Kai-Rhee's shorts and double black knee braces with strappy blue ribbons wrapped suggestively around muscular thighs. Her tank top traded easily for a matching one-piece bathing suit. Even her facial scar could be pink instead of a blanched flesh-tone. But when Kev attempted to relax Evan's hair into swooping magenta strands down her back, the imaginary Master Sergeant gave him the stink eye and raised her psychic sword in warning. Kev coughed out, "Uh, yeah. That was a surprise."

"I guess that's why she's been to the front lines, and I have missed whole weeks unable to tear myself away from a screen to see the sun." Fitz dropped into refection about his place in the world. The past month had changed so much about his daily routine. As he described to Kevin the sedentary life he lived before coming to Krypton, it sounded foreign, bizarre, unlivable.

Wheeler had no illusions that he was suddenly a hard body, even though he could count 6 distinct abdominal muscles on his torso for the first time in his life. When he thought about his own pasty physical incarnation compared to the tanned and toughened Master Sergeant, he found it hard to believe they were in the same biological class. "Kinda amazing the wide array that falls under the species homo sapien."

Kevin was happy to hear Fitzy joining him in his philosophical appreciation for humankind only a day after they'd witnessed evidence of its dark side. "Yep, takes all kinds."

Ryan's sweet accepting smile was a huge relief to Cordon. Even though he guessed the detective was a decade older, and obviously a 'real grown-up' already, Kevin still managed to make him feel like an equal, like he didn't have anything to be embarrassed about. It was a feeling that very few people could inspire in the tech-geek, even if he supposed most of the self-consciousness emanated from accidental exchanges. Fitz complimented, "Detective, you've refused to 'turn adult' in all the best ways."

"Thanks, man, I think."

As their footfalls rounded a bend in relative silence, Fitzy mused, _'__Castle, on the other hand, morphed into full-on __**Maturity Man**__ when Beckett showed up on this island. Of course, he was tech-retrograded and acronym ignorant when he got here, but before __**she**__ came Rick still acted like a pimply adolescent when it came to evading Sergeant Slaughter.__' _

Wheeler compared the 2 Castle's, before and after his fiance showed up. The addition of Beckett made Rick seem more like a dad than a high school buddy. _'__I wonder if that__'__s what Detective Long Legs did to him?__'_

Even if it made Fitzy feel more uncomfortable around Castle, after seeing the author so in control of himself, he couldn't deny that it suited his new friend. Cordie probed a little about the writer to pass the time. "So, what's the Nermal-nator like in NYC? He appears to have a lot of secret identities."

Ryan smirked while suppressing an eye roll. _'__Everybody wants to know about Castle!__' _Ryan was used to issuing press release snippets to mollify Rick's groupies. He took payment for that service out in Ferrari rentals. It wasn't the protecting of the author's privacy that irritated him, but being volun-told into Castle's entourage seemed like a massive reversal of the right order of the universe.

'_**I**__**'**__**m**__ the detective! __**I**__**'**__**m**__ the one valiantly foregoing a life of hedonistic pleasures to serve my fellow citizens and keep the peace! Castle__'__s pulling his weight in the __'__thrilling heroics__' __department, but in terms of due process, pffuff! He makes himself scarce whenever the __bureaucratic__ grind sets in.__' _

"Uhhhhh…."Ryan let his pent-up frustrations dissipate before answering. His running buddy was the last person to treat him like second fiddle, or third if he counted being tied with Espo.

Fitz raised his eyebrows in surprise to hear the Irishmen at a loss for words.

"…..Castle's, well, _complicated._" Kevin explained, "He didn't come that way. When I met him half a dozen years ago he was the poster boy for cliche millionaire playboys. It was fun to watch him get to Beckett, but he jumped out of his skin whenever a shot rang out." Ryan thought back over their first case with the writer tagging along. "And you wouldn't believe how hard it is to keep him in the **damn car,** when the real cops need to arrest someone armed and dangerous!"

Fitz snorted imagining the more juvenile version of Ricky playing with the siren and CB while Ryan and Esposito were trying to infiltrate a building _**covertly**_. Kai-Rhee's Roc didn't look like someone he'd like to piss off while he had a gun cocked and ready.

'_**That guy**__ is definitely an intimidating __'__grown up__'__!__' _Fitz had been surprised to see the Ryan's partner laughing and joking with Ryan on the way to mess hall earlier that morning. _'__He__'__s got those eyes! The ones that could snap to death lasers, like a certain cycloptic mutant named Scott.__' _Fitzy didn't want to be anywhere near that man, if a careless jibe suddenly rubbed him the wrong way.

"And your partner? He 'complicated,' too?"

"Who Espo? Nahhh." Kev joked, "Just don't touch his sweets or his car and he's plenty easy to get along with."

\o/

* * *

Throughout the long run, Kev and Cordie tried to take each other's minds off the pile of morbid wrongness they were running towards. The agnostic Semite filled the conversation with wild imagination and well-meaning awkwardness, while the Irish Catholic smoothed out the rough spots with good humor and humane acceptance of whatever nonsense his counterpart came up with.

When they ran out of 12th precinct gossip to dish about, Wheeler asked Ryan to check the tally he'd been scoring since his arrival on the island. "With the invasion of 3 NY detectives, that brings the ratio of 'real grown-ups' to goof-offs to a grand total of 6 to 4 by my count…" Fitz addressed Kevin's quizzical look with further explanation,"… with Rick switching sides, and Simon in an undefinable 'other' space that seems culturally irrelevant to my neat categorization."

"What team am I on?"

"Dude, you're a dad!" Fitz prayed his sardonic tone would squash any latent DILFY thoughts he might be harboring.

"So, if I'm on Team Grown Up, who are we up against?"

"Hoax is the hold out joining our band of twenty-somethings on Team Dumb Ass." It appeared to Fitz that the big man was making a career out of evading real responsibility, at least in the way his own parents had fully surrendered their identities to suburban family life.

Ryan observed, "Seems our competition makes up in poundage what it lacks in numbers."

"Yeah, it's a good thing too. Without Hoax and Cannon we'd be an angst-heavy lot."

"I like that." Kevin smiled. "Even the dumbasses balance their yin and yang."

"Essential to any team, right?"

"Absolutely, man, with the right mix a good team can accomplish anything."

\o/

* * *

Even without the benefit of sunlight, Kai-Rhee knew that Wednesday night had come on. As the hours tumbled into each other, however, she was too wrapped up in her discussions with Matthew to think about broaching her other concerns. Even though Shannon had brought dinner to the lab, and offered her a bed in the retro decorated room in which she'd awoken earlier, she couldn't think of anything but the possibilities the Doc was opening in her mind.

"**_This_** is what makes this a weapon that can't be high-jacked and used by terrorist interests against our troops." With excitement, Carrion pointed to the mechanisms that had been fitted close to Kai-Rhee's skin. "These sensors only work with the electrical impulses that your mind is sending to the missing limb. And if we surgically attach it, we can adjust the settings so that not even other amputees can use your device. It's literally something only you can deliver, a protection that your unit couldn't obtain without your presence."

The development of weapons that would eventually fall into the wrong hands and continually escalate conflicts was the constant fear that kept Matthew away from his current field, until his daughter's tragic end. He demanded the autonomy to develop something that couldn't be sold on the black market. It was his moral imperative that had slowed his research for years, and allowed other, stupider men to gain ground while he floundered. Until recently.

The Doc crossed to the other side of his lab to grab a photo from the magnet board. He returned to Kai-Rhee, perched on a stool by his workstation, to hand her the image of a large naval vessel. "Laser weaponry will soon be prolific. The US Navy already has one mounted for testing this summer. They free up all the need for manufacturing, transporting, and storing ammo. It's a huge relief on resources." He took off his protective goggles to clean them. "But once one side has the technology, it's only a matter of time before the other side acquires something similar. Where does it end?"

Evans knew what 'escalation' meant on a visceral, gut-wrenching level. To her, it wasn't a word yielded in political debate or strategic abstraction. It was the cleaver that hewn her best friend Lamar from earth before she'd had a chance to tell him, _'__I need you.__' _

Carrion continued, "What I'm trying to do is hand the power back to the humans who have put themselves in harm's way. I don't believe anyone understands the real life implications of firing a weapon like the people who have been on the receiving end of something similar. THOSE are the people I want deciding if a target is worth incinerating. THOSE are the people who I trust to minimize collateral damages, and what's the phrase? 'Friendly fire'?"

Evans motioned to the photos on the researcher's desk. "Like her?"

Matthew picked up the frame with a picture his daughter, Sylphia, dressed in fatigues. "Yes, she wouldn't hurt anyone unless it could save the world from more suffering."

The pain twisting the man's features tugged at Kai-Rhee's heart. "Did you lose her?"

"The blast of a mortar took her arm and legs, but despair of a world without a place for her delivered the final blow." His volume shrunk to a whisper. "She'd taken matters into her own hands before I could even see her again."

Kai-Rhee decided,_ 'There's no way this man's connected to those bodies. And with the suit he had to don just to go out in the sunlight without burning his skin, I'm not sure he could've physically pulled it off anyway.' _

"So you came here to create something that could have saved her?"

"That's the flattering portrait, I suppose…" He replaced the frame on his desk. "…but I could just as easily admit I had nowhere else to go but a distant corner of the word, where no one would need to put up with my barely breathing excuse for personhood." He admitted with embarrassment, "The person I've been for the last 7 years barely qualifies as 'still human.'" He heaved a heavy sigh. "Living in my old life, with the people who knew me when I was dynamic, and generous, and creative? Well… I couldn't have handled being a constant disappointment."

"And now?"

"And now…something is definitely different. Well, you're here, for instance. And ever since my breakthrough Sunday, well, it seems like momentous things are happening one after another. My brain is firing faster than it has in years." The excitement poured down the Doc's face like a waterfall. "If I didn't know better, I'd think Shannon spiked my coffee."

They both released a forbidden giggle. For various reasons, both Matthew and Kai-Rhee viewed themselves as people who weren't generally permitted to laugh in the presence of others. In that moment, they'd stumbled upon a magical place for confidantes where mirth was allowed, and even encouraged.

Matthew's serious-turned-silly countenance melted into warmth. "Thanks for letting me share that. It seems I had something to get off my chest. Not much in the way of conversation down here in the mad scientist secret lair." He raised his eyebrows in self-judgement for how much he actually resembled that cliche. After he'd sensitized his already susceptible pale skin in an experiment gone wrong, he began to think of himself as something uncomfortably close to a monster.

For that reason, Carrion needed to keep his test subjects out of the sun. The beginning trials all risked photon-overexposure that might trigger the same sensitivities in his studies' participants. It was out of the question to ask others to risk developing a similar skin condition.

Matthew lamented the loss of sunlight for them, especially for extended periods, but they did what they could to offset it with vitamin D, exercise, artificial UV lights and when all else failed, parties. They threw a lot of parties. Carrion had never gone to any, but he'd seen the evidence in hangovers that gave him the impression that alcohol poisoning was a greater risk than depression.

Carrion was quite proud of the lifestyle he'd been able to procure for the refugees who'd washed on his shores over the previous few years, though he hadn't been able to save all of them from the injuries they'd sustained during their perilous ocean journey. Some came in terrible shape from dehydration. The first boat had brought him a number of folks needing amputations after shark attacks. _'The terrible ordeal they'd been through!'_ He couldn't imagine having only a flimsy raft in between 25 people and a underwater frenzy of man-eaters. _'And the children with them!' _Matthew tried to do everything he could to find them an agreeable living situation.

Unfortunately, his clout as a world-class scientist proved useless in the arena of political asylum. It appeared his only legal recourse was to set them back on a vessel and shove them off to sea with a hope for better luck next time.

Instead, he offered them jobs helping to complete his research, and set up off-shore accounts to hold their earnings, since they had no use for currency on the island.

That's where Matthew's involvement ended though. He didn't have the organizational or people skills to handle operations management. He was eaten by the abstractions of his research and grief that hadn't yet run it's course. He'd left the lion's share of responsibility to Shannon. At the time, there didn't seem to be much choice in the matter.

Even though Carrion had means to hire a larger staff, the unique isolation of the job, close quarters, and top secrecy made it a very difficult role. No doubt he could find people willing for the paycheck, but then he'd have to live with them. His crippling depression made any contact with people, and any change, especially one so drastic, seem utterly unworthy of the risk. Shannon was young, but took care of him. No one lodged complaints about the young assistant's ability to run things, so the Doc did zero checking up.

'_And he could do no worse than me,' _he reasoned. Over time, Matthew's inability to connect with the vibrant people he routinely examined for illness and side effects had convinced him that he'd become something of an un-person. When he examined Kai-Rhee earlier that day, her sun-soaked skin and physical ferocity heightened his awareness that he'd shrunk away from the strong person he used to be. His self-concept had changed to a creature Frankenstein freakish.

_'But_ **s**_**he's** no monster, nor a bride, she's…' _He reexamined the impressive soldier perched in his lab, ruminating, "_….exactly what I needed, at exactly the moment my research made a leap. I might just be able to build something out of this rubble of a life…**if** she'd be willing to keep working with me. She could be my ticket back to the human race.'_

"Master Sergeant, I'd love to continue working with you. Can I show you more about what it is we do here? Or do you need your rest?" After a beat, Matthew exclaimed, "Oh, my, I never considered…Is someone waiting for you back on the other side of the island? Will you be missed? You're not alone over there. Are you?"

He hadn't taken a moment to consider anything personal for her, the dark hole he'd been functioning out of had almost completely erased his social skills. Between that and his excitement over the successful trials, he'd never even considered what it meant to have 'neighbors.'

Kai-Rhee trusted Matthew, but she still wasn't ready to surrender contacts until she knew what had caused her to black out and wake up utterly incapacitated without her voice. That was no ordinary bump on the head.

"Alone?" Kai-Rhee could honestly say that the word was a fairly perfect descriptor of her life on Krypton. "Let's just say, I agree. Islands are excellent places to hide from the world. And, yes, show me more."

\o/

* * *

"Lemme guess, a whole new respect for what it is I do all day?" Lanie Parrish, NYPD Medical Examiner, was on the case.

Ryan was going to say, _'This is the single grossest thing I've ever done. How do you ever feel clean afterwards?' _But it sounded much better the way she said it. "Yep, read my mind."

Fitz was just trying not to pass out. It was all he could do to keep focusing on Ryan's attractively short hairdo. He'd already tried a half dozen other focal points as distractions, but not even those GQ-worthy ankles, that had been so mesmerizing in the light of day, could quell the nausea rising in him as Ryan went about his work.

"O what I wouldn't give for a mute button!" The programmer was sure he could 'man-up' a heckuvalot easier if it weren't for the unmistakable sound of guts squishing.

"You alright, Cordie?" Ryan wasn't entirely sure how much more he could take of being Parrish's remote arms, either, but he was putting on a brave face for the civilians. '_Besides, all of this is getting back to Espo via Lanie. So, man-sized stones are definitely in order.' _

Fitz was busy building elaborate delusions to take his mind off. "Sure. You're Han Solo, that's a ton ton, and those foul smelling innards are totally gonna save someone's life, somehow. I've sooo got this."

Ryan, who'd continued on his task, grimaced at the new level of nasty waiting for him inside the corpse' stomach contents. '_Baahh-egh!'  
_

When the detective made the unpleasant face, Fitz thought he needed to apologize for his massive, inexcusable geekdom. "Sorry, I know it's not a perfect analogy but it's getting me through for the moment." To Fitz, it was one thing to head down the rabbit hole of sci-fi references with a fellow fan, but if the medical examiner on the other end of his uplink was a fan of anything, she was hiding if far behind a mask of 'total grown-up supreme.'

Parrish's voice interrupted, "Alright. I think I've seen enough. Tell Beckett I'll have the results ready in half an hour. I'll wait for her to contact me on a secure line."

Ryan wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but not with the air of decomposition in his nostrils. He let out a strained breath. "Got it. I'll let her know."

"And, Ryan, you did a great job. I'll be sure to tell your boss how you didn't pass out once."

Kev smiled with a new cheerful pride in his work. "Thanks, Lanie!"

"Your partner woulda passed out after the first incision."

"Now you're just trying to cheer me up."

"Yeah…cause now you gotta sew him back up again."

All the cheer drained from his face. "Riiiight."

\o/

* * *

"Girl, put me on speaker, so I can talk to Castle."

Beckett was in the habit of complying when her formidable best friend used that tone of voice. She pressed the control on her phone and laid the device on the table in front of them.

"What in God's green earth have you gotten my girl into now?"

Castle squeaked, "_**Me?**_ I came here because of _**her**_!"

"Don't try to confuse the issue by bringing up the prologue, writer-boy. I'm talking about _this_ week. The first week was for your health. Staying on for a second week? That wreaks of ego."

"You may have a point, Ms. Parrish, but to be fair, my fiance returned unbidden. And _**I**_ didn't kill those people."

Beckett needed to redirect, these two could agitate each other for hours. She took command of the conversation. "Do we know what **did** kill our vics?"

Lanie quipped, "More than ray guns."

"How so?"

"We examined three bodies that all appeared to have a different cause of death. One seems to be accidental drowning. The second, lacerations due to photon exposure. The third, poisoning by a substance commonly used as an industrial cleaning agent."

"Poisoning how?"

"Injection. My guess is with a syringe, though the body suffered too much decomposition to tell for sure." Parrish explained, "We examined the most recent cadavers, but remote autopsy is not an exact science."

"Right. So the third body was definitely murdered?"

"Well, I suppose it's possible to commit suicide by injecting a lethal chemical agent into your own body, but I wouldn't put money on it. It's a painful way to go and causes paralysis first. So the vic would've been writhing in pain, minus the ability to writhe. Or scream, it freezes the vocal cords first. Not a pretty picture."

Castle grimaced and shook the squeamish empathy out of his limbs with clopping hops in a circle.

Kate's features acknowledged writer-man's bizarre dance before she pressed, "So tell us about the lacerations. Does 'photo exposure' mean laser beams?"

"Well, the subject certainly played with something like that. There were burns consistent with that type of weaponry all over his body. But that's not our cause of death."

"So how'd he die?"

"He bled out."

Castle leaned his forearms on the counter, bringing his voice closer to the phone's mouthpiece. "Oo, did someone lob off his hand with a spectral vaporizer?" His over-enthusiasm earned an annoyed look from Beckett.

"No. His forearm was cut off the old fashioned way, with a blade, but then someone tried to cauterize it with something hot and fast, probably a laser, to stop the bleeding. It didn't work, just made things worse."

Castle shuddered. "Ray guns aren't so cool when people actually bleed from them. In my childhood fantasies the victims just evaporate into thin air, or piles of orange dust."

Beckett rolled her eyes before continuing. "And the drowning victim was accidental?"

"From what I could see, yes. Most likely drowned in deeper waters off the island."

"What makes you say that?"

"She had half a masked booby in her stomach."

Rick spurted, "A who what now?"

"It's a bird, Castle. One that nests in the Dry Tortugas, islands off The Keys, near you. Chances are good that the other half is in the shark that took a bite of her while she was floating in the water. Sharks aren't known to relish dead birds or dead humans, she was probably just in the way and got a test nibble."

Espo shot darkly into the room, "Did you watch a whole episode of shark week to get that much?" He had snuck in to listen. The news of suspected murders confirmed had reversed his good mood for something nasty.

Castle and Beckett exchanged some raised eyebrows before they shifted off their chairs.

Kate asked, "Okay thanks, Lanie. Does that pretty much cover it?"

"Yep. Except you need to know that Detective Ryan was the best set of robotic arms I've ever had the pleasure of manipulating."

'Caskett' could tell that the conversation wasn't getting any less awkward, so it promptly released control of the receiver so 'Esplanie' could talk.

"Alright. Well, we'll just leave you two to it." Rick and Kate shut the door behind them.

\o/

* * *

Esposito strode to the phone still set to speaker on the table, greeting Parrish defeatedly, "Hey."

"Hey, yourself."

"Thanks for doing this."

"Don't thank me. Captain Gates all but gave me the medal for valor for coming to the Master Sergeant's aide. If Iron Gates says its time to go off sides, who am I to play it by the book?"

When Espo didn't answer, she probed, "So how is she?"

"Dunno. She wants us to wait. She's trying to handle it all by herself. Won't let me in."

It sounded like the saddest thing Javier might ever admit.

"I can respect that. Sometimes a girl's gotta do…"

He didn't let her finish. "It doesn't need to be that way. We're ready to help. She doesn't need to go through this alone…" He shifted around the room in built up frustration before coming back to the receiver. "And maybe she'll be fine. Maybe she's not in any real danger. But why can't she at least come out and tell us what's going on?"

That was all more than he'd intended to share with Parrish. Somewhere in their conversation he'd started talking to himself. Not to her.

Lanie could hear that she'd become obsolete. "Listen, Javi, …baby, we all have to go through our things. Nobody else can know exactly what we are dealing with. Maybe this is something she's gotta go through alone? But you know what you can do for her?"

"What?" Javier was ready for anything, any shred of an action plan he could hang onto in the meanwhile.

"Be there for her when she gets to the other side." Parrish let the silence settle over both of them. She was ready to let Javier go. _'If this woman means so much to him. If he's **this** willing to admit his worry for her, maybe Javi's ready to love her too. He sounds like the kind of man who is closer to love, than the one I pushed away.'_

Eventually, Espo fired back, "I'mma do better than that!"

Lanie's skeptical sass returned, "Oh really?"

"Yep. I'mma blow a **_hole so big_** that I can storm in there and get her out by force, if necessary."

Parrish threw in the towel. "Well, that works too." On second thought, maybe he wasn't so different than the Espo she already knew.

\o/

* * *

**_It's go time. Next up: Who's got the motivations to match our mystery? And who's still making light of all the gear it takes to save the day?_**


	23. Chapter 23

Beckett snapped, "Castle. What are you doing?"

"Nothing," he defended somewhat guiltily.

Thursday morning moments before dawn, the men of Krypton gathered on the beach to test their accoutrements, weapons and gear. If Kai-Rhee gave that sign, they wanted to be ready. Beckett knew there was a good chance that they were over-armed to the teethe and would scare the begeezus out of some unsuspecting researchers. However, the scale of the body count could also suggest that she'd be leading this motley crew of expendables into face a formidable threat.

She accused, "You were taking a selfie with that rocket launcher weren't you?"

Rick lied, "No…!"

Laughter spurt through Cannon's nostrils, even though he made an honest effort to contain it.

When Castle gave him the look of 'don't-rat-me-out,' the young blonde gave in and sided with Beckett. "I told you to let me take the photo. It's too cumbersome to hold both a phone and a missile at the same time."

Beckett crossed her arms.

Rick's stared down his turncoat, until Cannon defended, "What? I've tried!" He scolded the writer twice his age, "You need to start listening to the voice of experience, if you want to stop potholing through life!"

Castle and Beckett gave Cannon matching looks of confusion as they tried to make sense of a statement that made more sense than it should have.

Bob Creedon added, "From the mouths of babes."

Castle regained his tongue. "Beckett, did I just get 'taken to school' by someone named after cast iron artillery from the Song dynasty?"

Kate added slyly, "I think so, _**Nermal**_." Her lips curled into a silly smile. _'__It still feels fun to say. Nermal. Nermal. Nermal. I think I__'__ll use it in bed when we finally get home, just to see if it breaks his concentration.__' _

The footballer had been wearing his name longer than any of the clients, he graciously accepted Kate's compliment with a bow. "Just call me 'flying-cloud-thunderclap-eruptor.'"

Delphi entered the conversation merely to show off, but Rick beat him to it, as they sounded in unison: **"****F****ei yun pi-li pao****!****" **

Beckett shook her head in surrender to the bulk amount of 'male bonding' on the island, asking, "Is the world ready for two Castle's?"

"That might just upset the space/time continuum all by itself," Creedon concurred.

Rick was eager to get in a jibe, even though he knew the subject was off limits. "What do you mean? There'll be two Castle's come mid-May, right?"

Eager to evade the discussion of last names as they relate to nuptials, Beckett turned it around on her fiance. "Don't press your luck, buddy. Especially not before we are about to invade a compound with heavy firepower. We don't want anyone to burst into flames before we say 'I do.'"

\o/

* * *

Lanie Parrish had cleaning to do.

And she wasn't gonna be quiet about it.

Inspired by Tory's feng shui make-over, her phone conversation with one Mr. Esposito, and an unexpected weekday off so she could discreetly 'take care of evidence' at Captain Gates behest, Parrish woke up Thursday morning with an immovable determination to clean house.

"Ruthless!"

And she liked to talk aloud to herself when she was in a mood to be ruthless.

She moved through her flat with more than boxes marked 'Sayonara.' Parrish had a glass of wine in one hand, and post-it notes in the other. Anything too big to move out by herself was tagged and towed by the strapping gents in 3B who owed her a favor. She'd graciously refrained from calling the police on their 3 am bender that included a… _'__what was the term they used?__'_

"Indoor bonfire…Yep, fitting!" Parrish conceded the phrase was much sexier when uttered by Belgian lads with accents, but she liked the image for the day's mood.

Enduring a night of sprinkler system high jinks was definitely worth free removal of her old stuffy furniture. She hoped to have them haul the unwanted pieces out to the sidewalk to be 'roadkill' by lunch. She was eager to allow another New Yorker to repurpose her cast-offs. _'__How did Espo quote Ryan on the subject?__' _

"Oh yes!…" She took a sip of Pinot Noir. "…trickle down economics at it's finest." She held the glass aloft. "And I'm done being trickled on."

By 11:30 am, Lanie Parrish had labeled and boxed a third of her possessions, and was ready to start on the bedroom. An incoming call sent her back to the living room to fetch her phone.

"Ah-lo."

"Ah-lo, to you, too, sailor. Have we set sail, already? It's not even noon?!"

"Tory, baby, I'm so far off-shore, I can't even see the land I come from."

"This sounds like a party I should be in on. Sorry to miss! So, I take it you've got the day off?"

"No remains for me to tag today…except for the ones in my apartment." Lanie was eyeing everything left in her space like an editor with an mainstream target market to appease. '_Slash, slash, delete, delete. censor, censor, censor!__'_ She explained, "I'm de-cluttering, just like I watched you do last weekend."

Ellis corrected, "Well, maybe not _exactly_ like I did. We didn't break out the mimosas until after lunch, remember? But I think I like your version better. I'd probably be rid of that lava lamp if Captain Morgan had been there with encouragement."

"ssSactly, what I'm thinking." A vindictive Parrish began to vent. "For example, this coffee table!"

"The glass one with the beveled edges?"

"The very same." Her octave rose with a hint of imaginary southern sass due solely to inebriation, "Do you know how many shin bruises I've incurred because of this mostly useless symbol of adult life?"

"Ummm…" The question was obviously rhetorical. And judging from the sound of Lanie's high, so was most of the conversation Tory was about to audit.

Parrish continued, "Now, shin bruises weren't cute when I was eleven and wore a tutu, but at least I got them having fun. Thing is, I'm a grown ass woman with all the same bruises, but minus all the fun. Now what kind of sense does that make?"

"Very little…" Ellis was happy to concede. '_This is better than re-runs. I hope she__'__s not done.__' _

"Of course, it's nice to have a place to rest my coffee. And coffee table books. But at what cost!?" She eyed the offending furniture with the same squint that regularly put the fear of heaven into Castle, Ryan and Esposito. "Do you know how many times I've stopped dancing around my apartment due to sudden tibia injury, all due to this table!?"

"Not a clue." Tory knew she wasn't needed to chime in, but couldn't help herself.

"Even worse, how many times have I stopped myself from dancing _in the first_ place, just because I knew it would end in pain? All because I want a place to rest my coffee?!"

"Seems non-sensical, when you put it that way…"

"Or maybe it's not about the coffee. Maybe its because I think I'm supposed to have one…" Lanie swept her glass in hand across her view of the space dramatically. "…cause it fits into the Architectural Digest image of what I'm _**supposed to have**_ in my living room."

Ellis was in no way invested, but she couldn't help baiting the morning version of inebriated Parrish. "It _**is**_ a nice thing for the occasional guest."

Lanie argued, "Do you know how many guests I have over here!?"

"Ummm…"

"Not enough to keep a damn table that eats half the real estate in my tiny apartment! That's for sure."

'_That worked better than expected.' _Tory was so glad she called to check up."So, what are ya gonna do about it?"

"Today I'm kicking 'em to the curb! Both the table and the glossy books that I stupidly bought just to go with it."

"And coffee?"

"I drink my damn coffee in no more than two long sips anyway. If I _desperately_ need someplace to set down the cup in between them, I'll use the end table. I may not have the world's most grown-up version of a living room anymore, but you know what I _**will**_ have?

Ellis was ready to break out her pom-poms to cheerlead for Team Lanie. "What?"

"A place to dance."

\o/

* * *

Shannon didn't want to do it, but he'd made promises. He'd had no idea what those promises would cost him when the time came to make good. Back then, the improbability of working so closely with Doctor Carrion on a cutting edge project of such magnitude seemed like an impossible dream. Matthew was his idol. If he could photoshop himself into the family portraits that sat on the Doc's desk, he would. When he'd accepted riders on his contract, all he could think of was the chance to get close to his dream. He never thought it had a prayer of going so far.

With each passing hour, the price tag of Shannon's faustian compromise skyrocketed out of control. He tried to beg out. "What do you mean, sub? As in submersible? We don't have any kind of threat that would warrant such drastic action. We are talking about one successful trial!"

Shannon's hands were trembling like leaves. He thought the phone might shake out of his grasp if the news got any worse. _'__How could the chairman possibly think we need an escalation to hunt for red october after two days of successes? I__'__m handling things fine for the moment.__' _

The chairman dismissed his comment entirely. "Our undersea crafts are discreet, for maneuverability in the shoals." Ben Cour hated dealing with underlings. They watched too many movies to have a grasp of real power.

"So you're sending security? What exactly are they securing us from? I told you…"

"Mr. Shannon, we'll be handling our enterprise as we see fit. Your only job is to keep Matthew working, as usual. You've made a mess of things enough as it is." Cour's patience for Carrion's autonomy expired the moment that contracts to mount the laser cannon on the USS Ponce went to a competing firm. His current mission was salvage.

The young man cringed with a sudden shocking realization. _'__How did I not see this position as the short-cut it was? How did I let it go this far? Oh tangled webs! I__'__m never gonna be able to make this right.__' _

Shannon had successfully compartmentalized everything he'd done to keep both Cour and Carrion happy. He did try to take care of their subjects, but some drove him mad with their inability to be on time, others made unreasonable requests, others wanted things that the chairman expressly forbade, and being placed in charge of children so they could play at the beach, _'__Ugh! Massive fail on every level.__'_

Keeping up the charade that he had everything under control to Carrion, so he wouldn't be distracted, had lead to some rather unpleasant eventualities. Only now, when the promises to one master would be exposed to the other, did he realize how terribly horrifying and inhuman some of his choices had been.

"Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir, now we are."

When Cour hung up his side of the connection, Shannon stood frozen with the phone in his hand. It felt like a surreal block of molded plastic in his hands. The world ceased to make sense for a moment. He heard the sound of his life cracking. It felt like a boom in his chest, like his chest cavity echoed the shock wave of fireworks overhead. He felt a tactile confirmation of sonic blast. And his perception around the edges went black.

Every dream and hope Shannon had for his future became forfeit with that conversation. He'd read about scientists who bent the rules, and ruined their lives because of it. At the time, it seemed a distant, irrelevant subject, something that could never touch his life. Surely those people were evil, while Shannon only wanted to help the world advance. Until that moment, he couldn't see the tiny barbs of ambition, and placation, and selective truth-telling that would eventually turn into the hooks that would hang him in shame.

'_Ruined. Everything I never wanted. And now I__'__m that. Sims, Bartholow, Heath, Stanley, __The Plutonium Files_…' His heart dropped into his shoes. '…_Now I join them_._'_ The ringing in his ears became deafening as his spirit broke down the middle and the end of his life-as-he'd-hoped-it-would-be came to settle its crushing reality on his soul.

Shannon's mind drew up the memory of that poor man who'd badgered him for months. He wanted to volunteer his hand for 'science' in exchange for a reward that could bring the rest of his family north. Of course, Shannon refused. Weeks later, the young scientist remained in some level of shock that the man, who seemed in other respects a happy, sane person, had come to him begging after sloughing off his own appendage. Shannon reeled through his misguided response to try to save the man, wondering how EMT's kept their cool facing crux moments again and again. In the surreal panic of the moment, Shannon sincerely believed he could complete the amputation safely, just as he'd seen Carrion do several times before. In the moment, proceeding alone, without disturbing Matthew, seemed the best way to resolve the situation, in fact the _only_ way to make all sides happy.

Recalling the horrific scene proved too much for Shannon's psyche to process. His brain waves transmogrified the memory. Instead of a body draining in a lab, his mind's eye saw the man's corpse hanging on a cleaver's meat hook, in the watery underground cavern below the courtyard, where they accepted their deliveries each week. And the face was very different. Shannon saw no hint of dark brows, and tanned face, and sturdy mustache on the form. The face hanging limp and lifeless was his own.

The young man stood motionless, holding his phone, mute and dumb, waiting for some stimuli strong enough to break him out of his horror.

Nothing came.

\o/

* * *

"Oh the possibilities! You and I are gonna do great things, Miss Evans"

Kai-Rhee was smiling wider than she had in years. An all-nighter with Carrion talking about photon signatures and knocking down empty soda cans with just her thoughts had been more fun than she'd had in a decade, possibly ever. She didn't even mind when he called her by her biological father's last name. When Matthew said it, it sounded like music to her ears.

Evans hadn't eaten or slept in nearly 30 hours, but she felt like a million bucks. She'd almost forgotten about the corporeal millionaires and their needs for cardiac reconditioning on the other side of the island.

"Shannon, come in, come in. You've got to see her do this. My boy, it's everything we dreamed about!"

His assistant recoiled. _'__Why did he have to call me __'__my boy__'__? Why now, after all these years, am I finally family?__… __when today is the day I betray him?__'_ After taking 2 steps inside the door, the young researcher crumbled into a hump sobbing on the laboratory floor.

Carrion rushed over to him. "Oh my, what on earth?"

Kai-Rhee tried to ascertain where the man might be wounded, but could find no external damage.

"I can't. I can't even…"

"Shannon, calm down. Speak to me."

When Carrion searched her eyes for help, Kai-Rhee intervened in the way she'd seen work temporarily with her friend Lamar in the desert after a shell-shock.

She grasped the man's upper arms and pressed in tightly enough to pick him up off the floor and sit him on the lab counter. When he sat perched at eye level, but couldn't regain his composure through the sobbing, she kept steady pressure on either side of him, holding him together like a vice grip that wouldn't let him fall apart.

Shannon found the sensation of being held together by someone strong enough to keep a person from breaking in two bizarrely comforting.

The Valkyrie shouted over the wake of his hysterical gesticulations, "Shannon, can you hear my voice?" When she'd tried this before, it wasn't her training that had informed her action. She had grabbed up Lamar and squeezed his giant frame because her instincts begged her to. She'd stepped in because she needed her best friend _whole_ and _sound_ and _next to her_. She needed him **period**. If the Master Sergeant's voice had been able to cut through fear and confusion and gun fire to bring her friend back to her from the teetering madness, she wagered it could reach Shannon wherever he was.

The distraught man nodded through his hyperventilating.

"Do you know who we are?"

He nodded with a sharp inhalation, eyes wide with fast-approaching fear.

"What are our names?"

He sputtered uncontrollably, "Ca-ca-carry-on."

"Good."

Shannon gulped air, sounding like a child half-underwater, "Kai-ia Kai-ya." The new name was too hard to utter, he amended between two grasping breaths. "Neigh-hah-bor."

"Close enough. Can you calm down enough to tell us what is going on?"

"Bad things. On…," He inhaled unevenly, "…their way."

Shannon turned his eyes toward the man who would never be the father figure he so desperately wanted him to be, before dissolving in tears again. "I'm sa-sa-so sorry."

\o/

* * *

"Dammit. We might be too late. Looks like company's already here." At the first hint of trouble Valedictoria dissolved and Master Sergeant Full Scale Extraction took her place. She locked the door to the lab and peaked out the window to see from which way the sounds of shouting emanated.

In the interim, Shannon had pulled himself together. His grief retreated behind an icy wall of survival instinct. His detachment made him of more use to Kai-Rhee tactically than Carrion.

"Where are they coming from?"

Shannon volunteered, "Sub level under the tri-tower. Submersible dock."

Carrion tensed. "Sub-House! Oh no, Shannon. Are they in danger?"

Shannon's eyes cast downward. "I don't know."

Kai-Rhee took over. "How many?"

"58 residents. In the housing unit attached to the green tower."

Mathew grasped Kai-Rhee's arm, "12 are children."

Evans knew this shit-storm might be coming. When she was hooked into the machines for testing the previous night the hairs on her arms were standing. She'd chalked it up to a side effect of the adrenaline caused by full-scale laser tag. But she'd had the same feeling before, it never ended well. She questioned, "Weapons?"

Carrion answered, "Just the one you've been wearing." He motioned to the device fitted to her right middle finger. The rest had blown up in Sunday's explosion or lay in pieces unassembled in the building across the quad.

"No. I've got more." Shannon slid across the floor to his adjoining office, Kai-Rhee and Carrion followed. He pulled out a bottom drawer to reveal syringes filled with clear liquid. He met Matthew's gaze with shame. "Don't ask."

Kai-Rhee deferred, "We don't want to get that close." Her eyes scanned the room for any impromptu resources. "You still got any of those prototypes Fenton brought yesterday?"

"Yeah, one. Why?" He reached up to his desk and dragged down the case Ryan had left, offering its contents to her.

She placed the earring in her left earlobe. "Krypton. Come in. Kai-Rhee reporting. Shit-storm approaching. Tell Hoax to pull the big guns outta deep freeze. 60 Civilians and 1 Valkyrie need immediate extraction. Creed, if you can hear me. This is your sign. Get in the bunker and send Hoax and Simon now!"

She turned to Matthew. "How do we get outta here?"

He shrugged. The scientist wasn't equipped for wartime speed of thought. He was a creative problem solver who'd lived in relative isolation for the better part of a decade. His understanding of what needed to happen couldn't keep up with hers.

Shannon had had more time to submit himself to worst case scenarios. He answered dryly, "Entrance points: Front door, the one you came in yesterday. Rooftop, though no way to get down easily. Tri-tower has an underground submersible dock, that's where we receive our supplies. If they wanna get people out, that's where they'll take them."

"No other entrance to the tower?"

"Just the front door across the courtyard. You passed it on your way in yesterday."

'_Damn. That's the most exposed feature of this entire compound. I'll never get these two through that gauntlet by myself.' _She submitted, "Alright. If that's our only option."

Shannon nodded at The Valkyrie with guilty, pain-streaked eyes.

"Wait what about, Matthew?" She turned to Carrion. "How badly will you burn in sunlight?"

"I've got a new suit in my desk. Just help zip me up. I'll be fine."

\o/

* * *

The Valkyrie cursed quietly, "Damn, what I wouldn't give for some two-way communication about now."

Kai-Rhee had relayed her plan into the receiver hidden in the diamond earring prototype that Fitz had created. As she put it on, Valedictoria realized that it was probably the only time she'd ever worn an expensive diamond.

When Fitzy had come knocking for resources, Beckett and Evans didn't have anything remotely appropriate for Fenton's model, 'Portia,' to wear in order to show off the incognito nature of the human tracking wares they were peddling. Luckily, Wheeler had noticed every little detail about the goth on the first day they showed up.

Back then, Kreuger was still wearing his diamond studs. He happily donated all 3 pairs to the cause. "One less thing to remind me," Kreuger mentioned to Fitz as he handed over the pill box he stored his jewelry in. His mom had purchased the earrings as consolation prize gifts when his father hadn't returned home for Christmas, three years in a row.

Having no designs on an engagement ring, Valedictoria found it funny to be so happy to slip on a sparkly stone. '_Never would have guessed a rock like this would be saving my ass.__' _

Evans scanned her eyes back to Carrion who was now covered head to toe in some futuristic full body suit he called VantaBlack. She'd never seen anything comparable. He looked like a walking black hole, the material was impossible to focus her eyes on.

"You sure you gonna be alright in that?" Kai-Rhee worried that it might be sweltering inside the blackest black she had ever seen as the heat of mid-day intensified. She didn't want to carry a fainted Doc in one arm and attempt laser strikes with the other, though if push came to shove she probably could.

"I assure you…" Matthew informed her needless concern, "…I'll be more comfortable than the two of you once we get under that blazing sun."

Looking out the strip of transparency over the frosted glass, she identified armed men in swat gear passing in front of the windows of the tower across the quad. "Shannon, who are they?"

"Private soldiers. Our sponsors _**own**_ them."

She spoke for the benefit of Krypton. "Hoax, Identified: bakers dozen hired hands, swat gear, fully armed, infiltrating Emerald City."

Evans, Carrion and Shannon startled as the sounds of a scout team sweeping the building issued from behind the doors leading to the foyer they were standing in. She issued one last communication into the device at her earlobe. "Roc, if you can hear me. I'm about to cross the valley of death. Now's a good time to be that guardian angel."

\o/

* * *

If Beckett thought Castle was having a disproportionate amount of fun before heading into a dangerous situation, then maybe Detective Ryan was off the charts. Teasing was definitely in order. Kate crossed in front of her co-worker and placed her hands on her hips, like a skeptical warrior princess. "Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?"

Ryan couldn't hear her through his soundproof headphones, nor read her lips while he adjusted to the iridescent fiber optic screen in his new Raybans.

Beckett had never seen so many home-brewed modifications to tactical gear in all her life. If she hadn't been able to see Kevin's unmistakeable eyes through the opalescent glasses, she wouldn't be able to pick him out of a line up.

"Actually, he's perfect!" Fitz defended. Wheeler had created the rig a few years back to drastically improve his aim while attempting to shoot dragons out of the sky during video gameplay.

Kevin smiled as Fitzy's response came through his headset. Detective Ryan didn't exactly understand how it worked, but he knew he had to focus his eyes on the target, and aim until he heard the tell-tale noise of a locked target.

Fitz turned off his microphone and lifted the giant soundproof headphone covering Kevin's right ear to explain what to listen for. "It sounds like Top-Gun. Be-Be-Be-Beeep. What can I say? I'm old school."

Ryan favored Wheeler with an impersonation of another right-sized leading man, using his chameleon powers to conjure Maverick's devilish wink and the smile that could melt wedding vows before he replaced his headset. "Roger that, Goose."

'_He really has no idea!__' _Fitz continued checking wire connections strapped to Kev's Kevlar, happy that his too-hot-for-his-own-good friend couldn't hear him with his ears covered. "Don't flirt with me like that, Detective. I'm spoken for."

Castle was more than curious. "Can I try it on after Ryan's done?" Why hadn't he thought of this for laser tag? _'__Alexis wouldn__'__t stand a chance. And I__'__d be so very Bond, if I could get tech officer Fitz on my team.__' _

"Nope. I built this for me. Component A," He pointed to the sidearm of the Raybans near Ryan's temple, "has to line up with Component B," He pointed to the sensor over Kevin's heart. "If this man were an inch taller none of this would work." The programmer stood back to assess if he'd forgotten anything. "His height is actually the vital factor that makes the partnership work."

Beckett wasn't sold. "How do you know that this will work with real projectiles?"

"Because Castle hasn't touched a bow or arrow since he got here."

Rick was even more confused than usual when Fitz wagged his tongue. "Come again?"

"Before you and the champs showed up, Cannon, Kreuger and I put Hoax through his paces with all our juvenile delinquency. I was none too happy to learn that I couldn't use this special gear here because Krypton law forbids the existence of video games. Sooo, I set my distemper to a trial with a real bow and arrow and the backside of one behemoth Hoax, just to see if I could turn him green Hulk." He looked over his glasses toward the writer. "You'll notice there's been no archery on the schedule since you arrived."

Fitz turned on the power source at the small of Kevin's back, making the chest sensors glow over the detective's torso. "Yep, good thing I was so inept with the old Nintendo Zapper when I was a wee babe. I never would have invented this contraption if I didn't have terrible aim. If Detective Irish Eyes is even a halfway decent shot, he'll be unstoppable with this thing."

Kevin Ryan was eager to practice. He aimed the silencer, deprived the world of one gorgeous blue eye, zero-ed on his target, and waited for the iconic sound of an F-14A Tomcat missile lock. When he heard *_**Bee-Bee-Bee-Beeeeeeep**_* through his headphones, he squeezed the trigger to release 3 rounds.

When all three landed inside the target's 1 inch diameter center ring, Castle could barely contain his gadget lust. "Wow," Rick complimented. "Do you do custom fittings? There's a certain redhead in New York who desperately needs your expertise."

\o/

* * *

_**You're still reading? Wow. Extremely honored that you've come this far. **_

_**Thank you TeamBromance, Big Kahuna, JJS4, FuelDH206, GeekMom, ConcreteAngel, OnkelJo and all guests for encouraging reviews. Your frenzy of Castle Season 7 anticipation is making this week a party. And thank you scientists everywhere for filling our world with wonders, like VantaBlack. **_

_**Next up: Pulling out all the stops with the temptations of Dripping Caskett, Fast-as-Lightning Rysposito, Ass-whumpin' Kryptonians, and NO TIME TO WAIT! How many ways can our league of extraordinary detectives, writers and volunteers save the day before it all goes BOOOOM!? **_


	24. Chapter 24

"Alright grunts and detectives, time to roll. Report in."

Castle was eager to be first. "Ready on the beach."

Beckett concurred, "Ready, Hoax."

Cannon echoed, "Ready on the high ground."

Detective Ryan sized up his view of no less than 4 fully outfitted enemy combatants in his visor. "Ready in Tower Two."

Creedon reported in from the communications center. "Listening in."

Adnan echoed his friend, "Ambassador ready at embassy suite."

Fitz refreshed his satellite uplink. "Tech live."

Kreuger answered, "I'm here with the pups."

Detective Esposito closed one eye to focus his telescopic sight, and aimed his sniper rifle on the door that Master Sergeant Kai-Rhee was about to open. "Tower One is go. I have visual on Valkyrie. Let's do this."

Hoax mounted the all terrain trike, Simon stood on the tail. He started his engine and motioned for Rick to follow. The leaner man bent over to Hoax' ear. "You gave _**him**_ gun?"

"Relax. It's just for show. He wants the photo op. I think his lady friend's the one packin."

Richard Castle never felt like such an American hero. He mused to Beckett, "Why does a fortnight's worth of push-ups, a little army green face paint, and a four wheel all terrain vehicle make such a difference? I feel like Commando!"

"I dunno, Castle, could have something to do with the rocket launcher strapped to your back."

"Yeah, definitely that."

*o*

* * *

Kai-Rhee couldn't hear her premonition come to pass, but Katherine Beckett connected the deva ju dots with the dream that had woken her 9 days earlier. Regardless, both Kate and Kai-Rhee, on opposite ends of the island, fixed in their minds the image of each man they were charged to lead and protect, along with the only outcome they were willing to accept. Before plunging into action, they had one more order of business to address. With iron wills pressed against the odds, both women issued a direct order to The Fates, comporting full confidence of compliance:

_'Everyone Lives.'_

___'Everyone Lives.'_

\o/

* * *

Kai-Rhee opened the door and shoved Shannon out first so she could cover him as he ran across the courtyard to the entrance at the bottom of the emerald tower. When he crossed all 100 yards safely, she stepped out cautiously with Matthew Carrion by her side.

The Doc's blacker-than-black head and body suit alarmed Espo out of his silent watch, though he never removed his eyes from Evans. Nothing short of an Act of God was gonna rip Javier Esposito's eyes off his main asset. _'__Kai-Rhee__'__s gonna make it across that courtyard __**in tact this time.**__**' **_

Javier spoke uncertainly into his intercom. "Kev? What the hell am I looking at?"

"I dunno. Yo, Fitz, you seeing this?"

Wheeler zoomed in and adjusted the image on his desktop which showed him exactly what Detective Ryan was looking at. From Kev's vantage point in the second tower, he could make out Evans clearly, but the figure crouching next to her was making his video feed look flawed, as if the spot where a person should be was cut out in post-production, edited down to a 2D hole in the film.

Ryan pressed Wheeler, "Got any point of reference for Black Hole Man?"

Cordie answered, "Nothing credible." He trawled through the back issue stacks of b-side ultra humanoids collecting dust in his mental library. "Vulcan, post anti-matter absorption? Star boy? Maybe Starman? Kinda hard to guess without a demonstration of powers."

From her stance, it was clear Evans was protecting the featureless outline where a man should be.

Espo had been thinking out-of-the-ordinary thoughts ever since he arrived on Krypton, and that trend continued. He observed to no one in particular, "Kai-Rhee makes the _strangest_ friends." After he spoke it, Esposito immediately realized that the statement probably reflected on him, too.

\o/

* * *

When Evans and the uber-dark silhouette reached 25 yards, Espo caught movement approaching from the southside. Evans turned to face the armed attacker, as if she meant to face a gunman with hand to hand combat. The detective took that to mean she was unarmed, and prepared to shoot the assailant, with reluctance. But the situation wasn't like the sniper hits he'd made in combat. Private soldiers were usually ex-military hired on after life hadn't handed them better options. Silently Esposito argued with the unlucky idiot that was advancing on his friend.

'_Don't make me shoot, dumbass.'_

The man in swat gear took three slow steps toward Valkyrie.

'_C'mon, put that weapon down.' _

Kai-Rhee placed herself between the gun and the man-too-dark-to-focus-on.

'_I don't want to put a hole in a veteran, no matter how moronic their boss.' _

When the attacker, followed by his 3 cohorts, continued toward the Master Sergeant with the muzzle of his weapon raised, Javier's finger twitched toward a squeeze.

'_But I __**will**__ end you, if that's what it takes to protect her.' _

When Evans drew herself into a stationary preparation for Jun-tsuki punch, Esposito froze in alarm that the waiting game was ending.

Kai-Rhee released her strike to the air with a 'kee-yah' sound that appeared to Espo to frighten the man into dropping his weapon. Only Kevin and Fitz, with their fiber optic enhanced view, saw the charge of pink light that flashed from the tip of her hand to the weapon.

"Great Scott!" Any cool Kevin Ryan had collected in his space-age get-up, was utterly traded for malarkey when he witnessed real-life psychic daggers thrown in self-defense. Fitz felt a whole lot better about himself after hearing Ryan blurt pure nerdness.

The 3 remaining soldiers-for-hire released the safeties on their sidearms and aimed at Evans. They heard the man in black warn them against carrying out their orders. "Fellas, let's not piss her off. Why don't we just put down our weapons, and discuss our options."

In answer, the largest man, at the back of the group, shot the ground a foot to the left of Kai-Rhee.

Instinctively, Valkyrie lunged forward to deliver Oi-tsuki thrust aimed at his weapon. Again, the gun flew from her attacker's hands. The sound of military hardware skittering across the stone floor was followed by a barrage of rounds fired by the still-armed men.

In less than a second, Esposito's first round silenced the westside assailant, while Ryan's found purchase in the one easterly. Both attackers were flattened onto the pavement in seconds, clutching the Kevlar vests now indented and obstructing their breathing.

Kai-Rhee collected all four weapons, slinging 2 over her shoulder, and handing one to Matthew. She quickly saluted Kev and Javi, her invisible angels, before rushing the Doc into the green tower.

\o/

* * *

Javier Esposito flew down the side of the crow's nest three rungs at a time. His feet were flying under him as he hurdled over twisted roots two at a time. Brush scrubbed at his knees as he streaked over the compacted earth of the one well-trodden trail that led _him_ to _her_.

Barely allowing one exhale for every third footfall, all he could hear were the eery sounds of quiet made by the forrest. The trees seemed to have no knowledge of the maelstrom of man that was no doubt enveloping his Valkyrie as she attempted to save the day single-handedly,_** AGAIN! **_

He'd never decided to jump off his post and engage. When Hoax drew up the plan with him, they'd both stationed him as sniper as a matter of course. They discussed the safest or most advantageous job for each of the other men supporting Castle and Beckett, but they'd never thought to discuss whether sharpshooter was still the best use of Espo's assets.

In the mismatched calm of his forested path, Javier wasn't thinking about anything except for standing next to Kai-Rhee and physically engaging whatever she was facing. His body moved on its own to be part of the action. It had made its own judgement call about where he needed to be.

Calibrating for years of life-altering experience, his limbs were running toward a new version of engagement without his ken. It came down to percentages. Ones he felt ruling him, but never consciously reviewed.

On his best day, the young sniper had 92% accuracy control, and 15% control of surroundings. The massive military hierarchy didn't require or allow him to contribute anything else. In the years after his reentry to civilian life, after a rocky start, he'd found stability in something like that same ratio. It looked odd to civilians.

_'Javi, I get that you have no life, but you're married, Kevin, so what's your excuse?'_ Lanie's words often cut too close to the bone.

Kevin, on the other hand, left 50% of himself for the job and 50% for his personal life (though often a little less if you considered how much of the latter he handed over willingly for Jenny to decide for him).

Javi had never moved into the full 50% of a personal life. He'd expanded to maybe 20-25% of the vacancy left by the military control that had run his life while he was active duty, but never managed to figure out what to do with the rest of his autonomy. Hanging out with Kevin gave him excuses and ideas in that regard. It was easy to fill the time with Kev, if not the purpose. But now that Ryan was tied up with parenthood, the hollow echoing of a partially empty life could trip him up.

He would never admit it, even to himself, but he wanted more.

The pie chart of personal investment wasn't something that Javier Esposito would ever think to mull over, but his body was resetting his defaults as he ran to Kai-Rhee 2 bounding steps at a time.

He ran faster than he'd ever done on any Confidence Course. Whatever was throwing him over the obstacles in front of him came as much through him as from him. He desperately needed to be with Valkyrie now, before it was too late for him to do anything about it. He pressed himself into the wind for something to lean all his anxiety against.

Javi's heart was pounding with a quickening bird-like pace. As perspiration created a second skin force-field around him, he ran so fast he barely touched the runway leading him directly into the danger ahead.

The downhill slope of the path sped him to a velocity well beyond the control of his limbs. At the end of his journey, the incline yanked each leg longer behind him in turn.

As he approached the doors of the building she'd entered, Javier traded the rifle in his hands, for the glock 17 he favored in NY, slinging the longer weapon behind him by the strap. Drawing his focus into the same one he used to apprehend suspects at home, he squared his shoulders and hips to the bent knee posture that consistently lead the charge of his homicide team.

He left Roc the sniper up on the hill. Only Javier Esposito NYPD Detective made ready to enter Emerald City.

\o/

* * *

"Yo, Javi, where you at?" Speaking into his headset, Kev arrived at the corner of the other side of the building only a few seconds later. He'd had a shorter distance to run, but much more gear strapped to his lithe frame.

"South side of the door. You?"

"Round the corner, North."

"On three, partner?"

"Count it down."

"One."

Both men released their safeties and slunk against the building, grounding into the feeling right before every sense heightens with the rush of adrenaline.

"Two."

'_Jesus, Mary and Joseph, protect me.' _

'_God, Country, and Hell's bells.'_

On "Three," Ryan and Espo simultaneously rushed the door, kicking it open. They scaled the steps opposite the entrance, climbing 3 floors before they heard the sound of another person in the building. Silently, they gave each other sideways glances to acknowledge the shift from '_forward advance__'_ to '_investigate lead_.' With guns drawn, they approached the stairwell door cautiously.

Ryan peered through the cross-wired window of the safety glass. He motioned that they head left toward the flash of action he'd seen down the hall.

Espo nodded. He'd have faced anything, run into any untenable situation to satisfy his need to take a stand with Valkyrie, no matter the consequences. But with Ryan, he knew he could take on anything and give it the very best he could. His partner ignited just enough protectiveness, and the perfect amount of witness, to bring out the best of what Esposito had to offer.

Moreso than a solo sniper, limited by the range of what one man can do, Ryan by his side made him feel invincible.

Kevin opened the portal for Javier, letting him slide into point position and lead the approach down the hall. When they reached the door where voices were shouting, Esposito kicked it in like it was made of paper.

\o/

* * *

"Everybody just calm down." Matthew Carrion was convinced that holding a weapon could create a certifiable medical condition akin to 'god complex' after witnessing 20 minutes of gun play. Carrion was waving his arms in animated sentence illustration, but Ryan, Espo, Valkyrie and 6 body-armored mercenaries held their guns steadily drawn.

Esposito introduced himself to the room with a sly remark to Kai-Rhee. "What's going on, baby?"

"Oh, the usual."

"I see. Care to introduce us to your friends?"

"Not really. Spike here seems to think that the Doc and I need to take a ride in his submersible. But I'm not really feeling like I need a vacation." She cocked her head to the side, "Bunch a folks already on the island that I'd like to meet."

"Close by?"

"Yeah, just beyond those doors." She motioned to the restaurant-style swinging kitchen doors on the other side of their opponents. "Apparently, their Lord Soron, has already booked them a travel agent. But I'm not sure its a good time of year, with Hurricane season about to start."

'_Hurricane. She__'__s about to spin, and unleash the death shower.__' _He chose the targets closest him, and nodded his alignment to her impending outburst.

Fitz, still streaming the scene to his computer screen through Kevin's eyewear, didn't really understand what he was watching. Having no technical training, the succession of movements blurred into indiscernible struggle. In his mind it amounted to something like the equivalent of _***POW! Boom. CRASH! Sock-it. Carrrrrrumba-ba-ba-ba. BOFF!***_

To be fair, Kevin Ryan wouldn't have been prepared to see the gyro-tomic fury of a Valkyrie with innocents to save, even if he'd been briefed in advance with a powerpoint presentation. After Ryan covered Carrion, he stood frozen and useless as Espo and Evans brought a swift, if theatrical, end to the threat of all six assailants. His eyes struggled just to keep up with witnessing their display.

When Espo's corporeal and Kai-Rhee's photon-generated strikes had forced every weapon from the hands of their foes, Kev flapped in an undignified flutter, "Uhghh. Soooo that happened."

Espo and Evans traded mutual looks of respect while regaining their breath. Their expressions melted into gratitude as their breathing returned to a more dependable tide.

As they collected all their opponents' weapons and chucked them out the third floor window, Esposito tried to play it cool about the high tech enhancement to Evan's fighting style. He focused instead on how much the results had changed. "So, that's a lot less death, and a lot less mess, than last time you did this."

"Yeah, thanks for noticing," she answered cooly.

"You turning over a new leaf?"

She almost smirked. "I think it suits me. We'll see…"

\o/

* * *

"Uh, Beckett, I don't think that's what Hoax had in mind when he asked if you had appropriate diving attire." Richard Castle had fully intended to stay mission-control-locked-and-loaded until they'd finished planting C4 on the sides of the empty submersibles parked in the underground dock. They'd volunteered to take out the 'get away cars' so that the Cuban families who'd helped to test Carrion's invention couldn't be abducted.

The olive green face grease was highly motivating. Rick wanted to complete the look with a Rambo-worthy, man-on-a-mission look of zeal in his eyes. He hadn't counted on Beckett wearing her tiny string bikini top for their dive.

As she tucked her t-shirt into the waterproof sack and traded it for the snorkel mask Lanie had sent, Kate wore the knowing smirk of a woman who knows exactly how much she affects the men around her. "Good thing I'm wearing my dad's swimming shorts instead of the bottoms, huh?"

"Instead?" Castle hadn't been so turned on by a tease since she'd dangled hidden booty in front of the magic shop. "You mean to tell me you're not wearing anything underneath those trunks?"

She popped her 'P' with salacious revenge, "No**p**e."

Castle ripped his shirt over his head, more ready than ever to take the plunge with his fiancé. "Mhmmm..."

His newly shined pectoral muscles stretched in the overhead motion. Watching them settle back into their full girth over his newly well-defined abdominal muscles gave Kate pause. She realized that Castle was finally pulling his weight in the 'let's-be-the-hottest-couple-of-all-time' contest that they seemed to have have entered.

Flustered, Castle shifted his weight into one hip as he contracted his biceps to bring his mask close enough to untangle the straps. He was having difficulty focusing on the mission. The curves spilling over the sides of her silhouette should be illegal when handling plastic explosives.

His hormones rushed with excitement to be wet with her, as much as their meritorious mission. _'__What is it about increased muscle mass that fills me with urges to hit on Kate at inappropriate times? I__'__d never do this in New York!__' _ They were handling things that explode, in a moment where 'getting caught' had much more dire consequences than alerting his mother in the next room.

Rick wondered if his testosterone rush was the same impetus that made Espo blurt inexcusable things to ladies who revved his engine. _'__Maybe it's the biceps. Slinging around all these extra guns just sort of begs me to grab Kate up with them__.__' _He ruminated, _'If that's the case, we can look to it's inverse corollary in Ryan's utterly whitewashed self-control as he meekly approaches the opposite sex.__'_

His long-winded speculation was designed to march his thoughts obediently past lascivious impulses. However, Beckett's half-nakedness combined with the tropical leaf pattern on her shorts proved too tempting. They transformed her into a pre-civilized version of the female form before his very eyes. Without constricting cotton button downs, and flared suit pants, to make her look like a tigress in a man's world, she resembled something much more like the untamed girl of Hanna-Barbara cartoons who ran in the same circles as Tarzan and Mowgli.

Kate feigned obviousness to Castle's fevered state. She fit the dorkifying snorkel mask over her fawn-like eyes to tease Castle with things he wished weren't out of reach. "Ready, Rick?"

"Yes, Ma'am." He danced his finger in a loop indicating her outfit. "Can you wear this later? When we get home? I think maybe Rima the Jungle Girl would benefit from meeting Nermal the Wonder Cat in the bedroom."

She rolled her eyes. "You really think me calling you _**Nermal**_ is gonna set the mood?"

He stepped behind her and gathered her up with arms that'd contended much feistier loads all week. Their power easily crushed her against the stiffened curves of his body. With a breath to her neck, and a claw of the skin trailing from her earlobe to shoulder crease, he taunted her with a popping consonant of his own.

"I'm not sure we should rule anything out, until we've tested_ every_ possibility Detective BecKett."

\o/

* * *

"My count makes 24 adults, plus 10 children, plus the 2 Docs." Adnan had greeted a lot of confused and harried folks in the preceding hour, but he still had a sparking smile and glinting eye for every one of them. Hoax had been shuttling people a dozen at a time over to the impromptu shelter that Kreuger had rigged with tarps using the Confidence Course beams as a frame.

While converting the site into something that could accept a lot of visitors, it was Kreuger's job to keep the two dogs from following Simon and Hoax into danger. As such, he threw sticks for them to fetch while he worked.

After the young man finished stringing tarps, the blue and white light filtering through the waterproof plastic made the folks gathering underneath it appear that they were waiting for a casual tropical wedding to start. They chattered excitedly and played games to distract the children while waiting for the rest of their group to join.

Creed confirmed, "So we still need 22, plus 2 half pints. You got that, Hoax?"

"Affirmative, returning to tower with Simon for the next convoy."

"Wait. I need to go back." Shannon grabbed Hoax' arm before he realized how disrespectfully the colossus of a man would receive the gesture. After the research assistant apologetically removed his pale hand from his darkly painted limb, Camacho attempted to leave again.

"Please, take me back with you."

"No can do, Pinky. You just sit back down over there with the Brain." He motioned to Dr. Carrion, who'd removed his head covering under the shade of the tarps, giving the impression of a severed head floating on a black void. "This is a one-way railroad."

"You don't understand. If I don't reset those back-up drives, everything you did here will be moot. They'll have all the identity information for these people, all their medical records. And they'll be able to access details on everything Kai-Rhee can do. They'll find a way to monetize it, even if they decide to leave her out of it." He shot a dubious glance to the Master Sergeant. "They'll turn it into another way to kill people that anyone can access, no matter their cause."

Hoax wasn't interested. His job was extraction. Commerce that followed was none of his business. "Sorry, little man, not today."

Shannon beseeched Kai-Rhee, "Please. I need to reset the back-ups if they haven't already taken them. They won't be safe." He pointed at the people passing water and chocolate hand to hand in the shade. "And Matthew's work shouldn't be co-opted by heathens! He's worked too hard!"

When Hoax watched the Valkyrie nod her agreement, the big man rolled his eyes. "Cue bad idea number three," he grumbled as they set off with Simon to retrieve another dozen people.

\o/

* * *

"Uh. I think we need a plan B."

Shannon, poised a the front door, now heavily barricaded, unknowingly uttered the same words Castle had sputtered 13 minutes earlier while the author bobbed his head out of the water 50 subterranean feet directly underneath the scientist in the aqueous cave below.

As they saw a third sub rise to dock, Beckett was already on task handing Castle blasting caps. "Here. We'll split the charges. As soon as they unload onto the docks, I'll swim over and attach a third of our payload onto the hull."

As his pupils flitted back and forth between the soldiers unloading and the bobbing submersibles, Kate shot a look of warning to Rick's camouflaged eyes peeking out of the water.

"What?"

"Just don't do anything stupid 'til then."

"Right!" He put the caps in his pockets, and pretended he'd never had a crazy idea in his life.

\o/

* * *

"Houston, we have a problem." Hoax informed Krypton through his headset, "Lobby entrance is blocked and heavily guarded by a new squad on deck. I'd take em out if I could see em, but it seems whatever they've barricaded the doors with has taken out my chances for a visual." He begrudgingly admitted he'd come to the end of his ideas about an easy way out. "Re-route?"

Espo made a last ditch effort to save his friend's home. "We got any way to get to the roof? Maybe Simon can scale up there?"

"Yeah, but that's not really helping us get 2 dozen folks back down again."

Ryan offered to help, "Maybe he could remove the barricade from the inside?"

"Maybe…"

Hoax cut in over the speaker, shouting through the loud sound of gunfire. "Maybe not gonna have time for that option. Under fire here! We're falling back to the trees while y'all figure it out." He and Simon traded shots with the unseen men who slid the barrels of their rifles out the slits of the building to ward off any further intrusion.

\o/

* * *

"Fire in the _HOOOOOOOOLE_!"

Cannon was having a great time.

He'd already sunk 5 of 6 grenades into the air vents that jutted out of the promontory at the top of the hill. Once Fitz confirmed Carrion's suspicions, that the ducts ran along the outside of the subterranean structure away from the housing units, with Ryan's blueprints from the architect, they'd barely been able to deliver more ammo fast enough.

The vents that Cannon needed to target, in order to weaken the supports sufficiently, were situated in tough spots. Some were separated from him by barbed wire, some by crevasses too deep to cross in a timely fashion. He hadn't bothered to try, that's why they called him Cannon.

Kai-Rhee's name for the football player hadn't been terribly original. In fact, it was iron'ed-on to the back of his Rose Bowl jersey, above the number 8 that he wore during the all-star game.

The young man didn't care about creativity, in fact, to hear the sound of his old nickname, the one no one had called him since his injuries permanently benched his dreams, felt great. When Kai-Rhee noticed that even misshapen coconuts could be hurled half way across her beach like streamlined projectiles, she figured, _'__Why fix what ain__'__t broken?__' _

"See, something still works on me.'" Cannon was happy to acknowledge the slightest perceived usefulness for his now flabby, but once Herculean, body.

As Cannon delivered the second half of his 'gifts' to weaken the wall that separated 2 dozen people from safety, Creedon updated all parties on the headset. "You stirring up some agitated hornets with those blasts. I don't think we have time to wait till he's finished. Bastards gettin' trigger happy in there."

"Roger that." Kai-Rhee was ready to signal the destruction of everything personal she'd brought to the island. Roc had already rescued the parts worth saving. "Kreuger. You ready to blow?"

"Yes, Sensei. When you are." Kreuger at the end of the lead tensed his muscles to brace himself for the blast that would follow as soon as he depressed the button under his thumb. The rearranging of his shape brushed his back against a cold, wet presence that made him jump out of his skin in fright.

"I'll take that." A cool voice unhanded the trigger from the young man's limp grasp. "You kneel down." Eyes as black as sharks' delivered the most frightening request Kreuger had ever received. A rough, hoarse voice hissed into the young man's ear. "Now you're gonna tell me what happens when I press this button. After I learn where I can find the rest of your friends."

\o/

* * *

Fitz was freaking the fuck out. Kreuger was his black diamond of hardened angst, the person whose luster shone brighter than the sun in his eyes. Even if they would never share a touch that surpassed the realm of friendship, even if they never touched again in any context, there was no way he could live with the pain of him extinguished or broken.

The mercenary was pressing Krueger for details on the inhabitants of Camp Krypton. It wasn't clear what he'd do with the info, but the knife he was pressing into the young man's throat didn't bode well. No one could see Kreuger at his post, nor could his aggressor see others, thankfully. But everyone was listening through the earpiece, hidden safely in the goth's earring. The two-way com link had fallen into the sand with his sudden start.

When Kreuger refused repeatedly to cough up a wisp of information, the ex-military specialist pulled a gun from his rubber swimming boot. Out of sight, it was only the whimper of fear that let Fitz and the others know that the interrogator had changed tactics.

"Where are his body guards?!" Wheeler had been comforted to learn that Hoax had assigned Kreuger to take care of the dogs while he raised the tent and waited for instructions to detonate. _'__Whew! That way he__'__s not doing anything dangerous and the dogs can bark in warning if he gets too close to the action. It__'__s the perfect excuse to keep all 3 of them from rushing in over their heads to protect their masters. They can take care of each other!__'_

No one had seen Kreuger's interrogator approach, including Music and Harmony, whom he'd shot dead from 30 yards to keep them from alerting his presence.

No one on Kai-Rhee's team knew about the loss of their canine friends, except Kreuger, who immediately scanned for the dogs when he realized the danger.

"You think you're some kinda silent savior in this ridiculous hair?" The mercenary grabbed a fistful of raven colored bangs. He growled in slick menace, "I aim to misbehave whether you tell me what I want to know or not." Whipping his blade through Kreuger's locks, he severed half the swooping bangs that usually hid the young man's face.

The flurry of communications passing back and forth between the rest of Kai-Rhee's outfit wasn't doing anything to calm Fitz.

"Seals aren't exactly known for subtlety..." Espo was trying to be discreet, but just ended up obscuring his meaning. "...at least not in the personal injury department."

Fitzy sighed in a totally unmanly frantic panic over the headset.

"No one's getting injured. Just gimme one more minute." Ryan was running as fast as he could up the long path toward the Master Sergeant's home, but those troublesome roots jutting out kept tricking his gait into uneven steps, slowing down his rhythm considerably.

"You close, partner? Shit's gettin' tense on the beach."

"Almost there." Kev rounded the bend that he hoped would bring Kreuger and his interrogator in his sights. The man had been grilling Cordie's friend for close to 10 minutes. His agitation at the goth's silence was rising to dangerous levels. Ryan knew he didn't have much time before the questioner chalked up his would-be informant to collateral damage.

Hoax, listening in to the drama from afar, was really hoping he wouldn't be regretting his budgetary decisions anymore than he already did. _'__It__'__s tough to know how many remote detonators we__'__ll need for a rainy day, especially when I__'__m crystal clear on exactly how many weekend party provisions are necessary to buy with that same money.__' _

If Horatio had bought just two more remotes, he'd have enough to for the subs **_and_** Kai-Rhee's flat. As it was, he'd sent them with Beckett. She and Castle definitely needed to be out of that cave before those subs blew. That's why the young man was so far from the rest of camp all alone, waiting to push a button at the end of a lead wire.

"Gotcha." Ryan drew his weapon and focused on the forms of the men at the far end of the beach across from where he stood. "Alright Fitz, you see my eyes? We're gonna do this together. I'm not gonna shoot until you're sure I'm on target."

He didn't need to be told to look, the techie had been staring at those windows to the soul all day. Kevin Ryan's irises could calm a sea at storm with their sheer brilliance. Amongst the maze of tech, blinking and whirring with potential hazards and woeful warnings, Cordie had been using them as a focal point to tranquilize his nerves, like a drishti that held all the balance he lacked.

His view of Ryan's optical placement took up the top third of one computer screen, his view of Kreuger and his dripping captor the bottom two. Fitz let himself drift inside the much more comforting top third of the screen.

Kevin Ryan's mazarine eyes made Kreuger's blue look positively plebeian in comparison to the artesian crafting that constructed the fine threads of his iris.

Cordie had only dared to stare directly into Kreuger's on a few occasions over the past month, but it only took a second glance to sear the image into his brain. The first time he'd been too nervous to record anything except the abject fear one might feel staring into the face of a man-eating predator. All he could remember afterwards were his loudly ringing thoughts. '_Be cool. It__'__s okay to look. He won__'__t bite. Yet.' _The rest was a blank of social anxiety.

The second time Wheeler clearly imprinted the pebbled flecks of brown ringing the outer edges of cobalt and immediately pledged his allegiance to their being 'the very best color that eyes could possibly be'.

Thinking on it, as he stared into Ryan's illuminated gaze with its far-off focus, he mused, _'__But love is obviously blind because those are amazing. Kinda makes me long to be a contact lens.__' _

In his duress, Fitz didn't even chide himself for having weird fantasies. He was too busy praying to the closest thing to a religious icon he could think of. _'__Yoda! Dude, I don__'__t know what kinda pull you got with the life force on this island. But I__'__m beggin__' __ya. Please let this bullet hit the other guy. __**Not**__ my chosen one.__' _

Ryan stood as still as a heron waiting to strike below a lake's glassy surface.

_***Bee-Bee-**__**Bee-**__**Beeeeeeep***_

Kevin said, "I hear it. You see it?"

Everything looked right. Ryan's shot should land near the head or neck of the standing man, and avoid the younger one kneeling in front of him.

Cordie answered, "You got this."

_**Ca—chhh **__**Ca—chhh**__**hhhhhhhh **_Two bullets bit the neck of the threat, whizzing past any doubt that as a team they could protect their own.

After the fact, Ryan wondered if his reflexive smirk at the juxtaposition of his partner's favorite phrase coming out of a completely un-Espo-like creature might have thrown off his shot. But in the moment, the crumpled Seal who folded himself in front of Kreuger told another story.

\o/

* * *

In the longest 10 minutes of Kreuger's life, while Detective Ryan's legs were pumping as fast as they could to get a visual on him, silence had been a shield instead of a prison for him.

In his frustration, the ex-Navy Seal had forced his pincher grip inside Kreuger's mouth to check that he had a tongue at all. He was prepared to kill him, and search the premises himself, if he couldn't produce results before his patience wore out, but he'd wanted to reduce lead time. Exploring Krypton's sprawling compound would eat a lot of his advantage.

With his usual iron maiden clamped securely over his mouth, Kreuger felt as comfortable as he could with a sharp blade scraping the soft skin behind his ear. If his mom couldn't get him to talk with her earnest application of '1001 Tactics to Make Your Teen Open Up,' complete with jagged edged guilt, maternal manipulation and desperate ploys, the guy with the actual physical knife didn't stand a chance. A knife would hurt once, maybe a lot, but it would be over. The words of his parent's disapproval, reinforced with the steely silence of his peers, and the chorus of voices inside his own head that tended to agree, they'd kept cutting until he could kill the brain cells that stored them.

\o/

* * *

As soon as Kreuger was no longer under threat, he confirmed with Kai-Rhee. "Blow it?"

"On my mark...All units report. Balboa?"

"Clear at Confidence, awaiting 24 more guests"

"Creed?"

"Clear."

"Fitz?"

"SO clear."

"Cannon?"

"Delivering last pinball to the wizard now…_huyh!__" _He grunted with the snap back and release of his last grenade_._ The space of a few seconds passed as it glided toward the target. '_That one had an awkward angle. Felt more shot-put than pigskin.__' _After a few tension-filled seconds, Cannon exclaimed, "Yesss! Gimme 60 seconds to clear."

"Detective Ryan?"

"All clear, here."

"Detective Esposito?"

He was surprised to hear her use his other name, but glad he didn't need to ask for the change. _'__How__'__d she know that__'__s what I__'__d rather be called now?__'_

"I'm clear."

"Detective Beckett?"

"Castle and I are clear." Katherine gave Richard the familiar look of apprehension that very subtly crossed her brow whenever they were about to roll the dice with their continued good luck. Her eyes said _'__Here we are, risking our lives for justice, again.__' _

It may be an odd concept to the uninitiated, but moments like that one were the very reason he'd affianced Katherine Houghton Beckett. Castle's eyes answered his lovers with, _'__I know it__'__s dangerous, but we have to risk it. It__'__s who we are.__'_

"Hoax, are you in a secure position?"

"We shall see. Won't we?" They'd had to base their calculations to rig the subs on totally hypothetical specs. There was a very real chance they would be sinking half the island with their blast. _'The half that me and Simon and Shannon are standing on!'_ If he'd done his job right, Kai-Rhee's flat would blow, and the 24 civilians would be escaping out that new exit. If he'd done his job right, there would soon be a giant hole in Camp Krypton where is bosses' bed used to be. The rest was a shot in the dark.

\o/

* * *

Cannon confirmed, "Clear, Master Sergeant!"

The Valkyrie never hesitated. No matter how much of herself might be destroyed in the process. "Beckett, Kreuger, blow it NOW!"

_**BOOOUUUN BOOOUUUUN BOOOOOOOOOOWHHHHHHHHHHHH!**_

Some fireballs make people cry. Some make people fall apart. Some can eat oxygen and take a person's breath away. That explosion, and it's twin blast in an underwater cavern, aimed to save people who didn't even know they needed saving. If they were all very lucky, that fireball would set people free.

\o/

* * *

**_Next up: Must. Post. More. Action. Now._**

**__****__****__****_*Complicated Fist Bump* for every reader. _**


	25. Chapter 25

There were a hundred ways that this shoddy plan could have gone sideways, maybe a thousand, but Espo left the creative worrying to his partner. Kev had a much better imagination for tragedy.

"I never imagined." Esposito was trying to grasp at any understanding that would lead him to an appropriate response.

Castle answered, "Really? I've spent the better part of two weeks imagining Krypton's demise. In my imagination, this isle has met Atlantis at least 2 dozen ways. I've got enough alternate endings to write a '**Choose Your Own Adventure**.' The author seized upon the fun in that idea. _'__Ooo, Alexis would love that for her birthday. I hope I have time to pull it together.__'_

Kai-Rhee had managed to lead Matthew and 34 residents safely to Krypton, but now she feared losing 3 more assets. She issued, "Hoax! Simon! Can you hear me? Report. Over."

When the Valkyrie couldn't get a response from either of her co-workers, she took off running in their direction. Esposito flew after her.

Ryan met him headed the other way, intending to see Kreuger safely back to Fitz. He knew the programmer would want to see his friend in person, even though he'd seen everything through his optical relay. When Kev crossed Javi's path, he asked, "Whoa, bro, where you headed?"

"Hoax and Simon won't respond."

"Want me to follow?"

"Naw, bro, stay here. Keep these people safe. Make sure they get outta there." Espo looked to the flaming hole where Kai-Rhee's home had been. "We got this."

Kevin and Javier met each other's eyes to trade mutual looks of worry and reinforcement.

"You got it…Just come back, Javi."

Part of Esposito wanted to make light, to puff his bravado thereby putting his partner at ease. If he could feign machismo, Ry would know that the universe was just as it always had been. No cause for concern.

But Javier Esposito wasn't entirely sure he was standing on familiar ground.

Instead, Javi bit the inside of his lower lip and gave Kev a serious nod, before he turned and ran after Kai-Rhee.

\o/

* * *

Evans revved the engine of the quad ATV that Castle had driven down the beach earlier, snarling in frustration. _'__Why are men so slow to keep up?__'_

Espo hopped to stand on the back, "Go." He held onto the protruding weapons mount as she sped down the beach.

They didn't have as far to drive as Javier had to run earlier, because Matthew Carrion's side of the island was sinking quickly beneath the waves.

"Dammit, Hoax where are you?" she seethed into her headset.

She scanned the tips of buildings retreating beneath the waterline, but could find no signs of life anywhere.

Her annoyance grew. "Simon, this is NOT the time to play invisible."

The land was breaking away from the green tower and rise of the hill that held their Cuban friends. A massive cleft opened where the courtyard had been a few moments before. The fault line yawned in menacing groans issued from the stretch of pipe, wire and I beams that ran underground connecting the two sides.

"Hey, over here!" Shannon, soaking wet and frantic, was waving his arms wildly from the roof of the tall triangular tower. His voice was tinny and weak from the distance it had to travel to her ears.

"Where's Hoax & Simon?"

"In the hill, getting people out."

Temporary half-relief washed over her. Evans wouldn't settle until she got her confirmation from the source.

Shannon shouted proudly, "I got the drives! Data's safe!" His delirium from the blast and the swim and the one good thing that he could point to about today was making him gasp ungroundedly. Plus, he'd been locked up there long enough to come to terms with his situation.

_**RrrrrrrourrrrrrOouuuuuu**__**  
**_

A blood-curdling tectonic shift prompted Kai-Rhee to move things along. "Can you get down here?"

"Fraid not. Tower's locked down. Only way down is to jump. Or swim."

Esposito's eyes finally put together why his stomach had begun to roll. The horizon point they'd been focusing on as they talked up at Shannon was moving very slowly. He leaned in toward Kai-Rhee. "He needs to get off that tower. It's about to go."

The very slight slant was barely discernible as the spire pitched ever-so-slightly away from its vertical orientation toward the sinking part of the island. Esposito's dark eyes scanned the scene for a root cause. The ground around it on the eastside of the courtyard appeared to be holding fast.

"There!" He pointed into the quickly widening abyss. "We need to detach that corridor. It's dragging the whole tower down with it."

Esposito had the rocket launcher off its mount and hoisted on his shoulder in less than 60 seconds. He needed a better angle to shoot downward into the void.

Kai-Rhee called in the news to Creed. "I need big guns on the beach ASAP!"

Espo fired the rocket without waiting for Kai-Rhee to finish. "Damn. Not enough. We need another round."

Kai-Rhee didn't think the M16 slung behind her would do much to help the cause, but she wanted to try something else, anyway. Adjusting the setting far past the quarter mark that she and Matthew had tested the night before, she pulsed her hand-fitted laser at the side of the target.

The magenta light's intermittent flashes smoked and seared the tube, but didn't achieve their purpose. "Uggghhhhh!" She growled in frustation.

"Hey! Give yourself some slack. You were missing half a hand two days ago, now you're growing your own ammo like Marrow. I think a little patience might be in order."

Valkyrie was too pissed at the situation, and his suggestion that 36 hours sleep deprivation was enough to give him the impression of a boney sewer-dwelling mutant. "I'll work on patience AFTER he's off that tower."

Rick pulled up with Cannon on the trike and all the launchers they could haul. "Somebody called for big guns?"

"Thanks, brother, I'll take one of those." Espo reached for the hand cannon in Castle's arms.

Rick swiveled away, cradling the shaft protectively. "Uhn Uh. This one's mine."

"Bro. You're gonna hurt churself, gimme that thing."

"Oh contraire. Our young weapons specialist here assures me this one is safe, and I've committed to memory _**all**_ the safety protocols." Rick elbowed his blonde accomplice, who nodded his confirmation.

Espo rolled his eyes. "That's why you brought Cannon instead of Beckett."

Rick defended, "Detective Beckett is needed at base camp for some very important hospitality duties for our new friends."

Espo twisted his lips sideways and raised the people's favorite eyebrow.

Castle admitted, "Alright, yes, I left without telling her."

"_**Gentlemen!**_**"** Valkyrie shot. "Less banter more bang bang."

Nermal and Cannon nodded obediently.

Kai-Rhee shook her head. _'__How does Detective Beckett meet a goddam deadline? Good thing her clients are already dead!__' _

Cannon had his shot aligned in half a minute. It yielded similar results to Espo's first attempt.

The Master Sergeant directed, "Keep at it. No use saving these for a rainy day."

Esposito fired again. The blast weakened one side, but didn't detach anything.

Castle was so proud of his self-restraint. He didn't even wait until he got his selfie before firing the rocket from his shoulder directly into the corridor.

With Rick's bullseye shot, the steadily sinking ground on the westside of the crevasse abruptly increased its descent beneath the waves, issuing further groans and causing the tower to snap some of it's mooring.

Shannon screamed as the building drifted toward a Pisa-like angle.

Valkyrie ordered, "Shoot em all. _**Now!**__**"**_

As all 3 men reloaded, Kai-Rhee turned up the laser's intensity to its highest setting. She almost frightened Richard into dropping the warhead in his hands with her ferocious "Kai-iaaaa" as she thrust her right hand toward the stubborn tether.

A squeaking sound sliced the air as a finger sized beam of bright light shot out of Evan's device. Instead of a rose colored pulse, her effort produced a continuous stream of green light and heat that carved a much more effective incision into the steel they were attempting to sever.

Cannon and Castle shot round number two.

Espo fired his final projectile, while Valkyrie, standing tall on the seat and handlebars of the quad, continued to cleave her blinding light into the tenacious alloy connection. Finally, their joint effort was rewarded with a free and clear release. The severed corridor fell away, no longer exerting it's pressure on the tilted tower.

Unfortunately, the unmooring had done its damage and Shannon's stronghold continued its path toward the sinking side of the island.

"Shannoooon! I'm coming." Kai-Rhee lept off her perch on the ATV.

Espo grabbed her hand like a lead anchor. "The hell you are! There is no approach that makes that tenable. When the tower falls in the water, he can swim off."

"Too risky. It might crush him."

"And YOU!"

For half a beat, Espo and Evans fumed at each other, trapped in stubborn wanting.

Cannon interrupted, "Look!"

Simon appeared, bounding down the hillside behind the tower over the same catapulting trail that Javier had run down on his first approach. Before reaching the end of the path, he scaled a tree and threw himself against the tower like a jumping spider.

Castle had seen Simon scale vertical surfaces barefoot all week. He was surprised to see the man, but not at all shocked that he made quick work of climbing a diagonal ascent.

Kai-Rhee's mind was screaming at him. _'No, Simon. No, you don't. This is not your moment. I don't accept. You can't repay your debt, if I don't accept!'_

She screamed,_** "SIMOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!"**_

As the building crashed across the thickening abyss and splashed it's upper floors into the rising tide, Kai-Rhee only glimpsed one bare ebony arm and one short khaki leg being flung beneath the waves.

She jumped out of her shoes and ran full-speed toward the end of the beach, throwing off her weapons, sunglasses and shorts before diving headlong. Within seconds, she disappeared below the water's surface with two strong splashing kicks.

"This fucking woman." Espo stood stunned by aggravation and disbelief as he watched her vanish. Quickly, he tossed Rick his cell phone before taking off after her. While running at top speed, Javi stripped what he could. Vest, shirt, and sunglasses spun off and floated to the ground. He threw his gun into the sand. With total commitment and shoes still on, he launched in after her.

Cannon gawked at the velocity and perfect dolphin-shaped dives that both vets had pulled out from a dead stop. His slack-jawed awe over their performance drew a breathy exclamation from his lips, "Hole-ly Hell…Tri-Athletes!" He explained to Castle, "I was never a _**real**__ athlete_ on my best day, if that's the bar."

\o/

* * *

Javier was losing the battle to keep Kai-Rhee above water. She was diving repeatedly for longer and longer periods like a cormorant who rarely needed to replenish oxygen. A huge wave of relief buoyed him when his cousin Pedro sped round the island in his patrol boat.

"Got here as fast as I could. I see you're leaving things just as you found them in my backyard, as usual."

"Thanks, bro. We think we lost two beneath the waves." The detective pointed in the direction of the now swallowed buildings.

When Kai-Rhee resurfaced gasping, Espo caught her up in his arms. "No more! Let's get in the boat, and look from there."

The shock of the saltwater she'd just swallowed on her overestimated dive, allowed her to give in, momentarily. She wrapped her arms around his neck to regain her breath. She struggled to breathe out, "Okay. You lead."

Before he swam to the boat, Javier checked her eyes to make sure she intended to follow.

She capitulated, "Yes, following."

Ensign, Detective and Master Sergeant employed all their training to search the circumference of the island. As they scoured inlets and scanned rock formations, Peddie, Javier and Kai-Rhee exhausted every avenue of optimism.

Until the sun went down.

When the ocean ate the burning light, all their hopes for a fluffy ending were swallowed with it.

\o/

* * *

They were safe.

58 Cuban refugees. 6 American millionaires. 3 NYPD detectives. 1 homeless scientist. 1 Hoax. 1 Valkyrie. Considering the damage the blasts had done, their rescue was an full moon miracle. But that count was short by 4.

The writer asked incredulous, "Do you really think there's anyway Simon and Shannon survived?" After witnessing both men crash into the waves, flung from the roof of a building that splintered into its component parts,** even**_** Castle**_ thought the theory sounded implausible. When Rick, Kate, and Kevin rejoined Javi and Kai-Rhee on the sand in the dark, there seemed no choice but to start mourning.

"I don't know what I think." Evans stared into the distance, using the backdrop of the dojo wall to let her memory files shuffle. "I know I've seen the man disappear, reappear and walk through walls. He's scaled unclimbable heights and resurrected at least twice in the time I've know him. If there's such a thing as cat magic, that man has it."

Rick was drawn immediately in. "You're thinking he cashed out one of his nine lives?"

Kai-Rhee tried to sell her idea, "Without proof, without a body, it _**is**_ hard for me to imagine that he took that big a risk without a plan." Evans shared her theory with Castle and the 3 detectives because she needed them to cast their focus away from her grief. Half of her _**did**_ believe that Simon, upon hearing Shannon's story, decided to usurp the young man's free will to march himself dutifully into a life of punishing dead ends.

Shannon had done bad things, but with good intentions. Simon had every skill the man would need to start over and try to find some redemption. Evan's wanted to believe that they would make a sort of sense together in a new life.

The other half of her, however, believed in the evidence. Two men, a hurtling catapult, a slap of bodies against an ocean, and no sign of life. That half was dominating Kai-Rhee, ruling her body language. She needed their eyes to look away.

And she knew Richard Castle would tell **everyone** on Krypton her outlandish theory. If she could drizzle a little lighter fluid on Rick's imagination, they'd all give her the space to breathe.

The author questioned, "But how? We saw them both go down, and you and Espo searched for hours on that boat all the way around the island."

"I'm disappointed, Nermal. I thought _**you**_ were the writer." She cast her witch hazel glare into Castle's oceanic eyes, trapping him in trance. Both student and master stood frozen, their pupils reflecting the dancing yellow light of torches burning at the dojo's entrance.

She baited, "I wouldn't ask **you** to motivate clients through a Confidence Course. And yet you seem to be asking _me_ for a satisfying ending to your novel." She appraised him through narrowing eyelids. "Perhaps, you don't take your job as seriously as I take mine."

Beckett watched the lit match in Evan's words land squarely in the dry tinder of Castle's ego.

The author's brow couched his eyes in shameful inadequacy like a puppy who'd been rapped on the nose. He turned tail and ran accidentally into Hoax, who was walking by with shovels and a box of booze.

"Give you hand with that?" Castle needed a task for his hands, so that he could 'dig up' some truly ingenious plot alternatives. _'__Sensei has thrown down the gauntlet! Sweet muses, come to my aid!__'_

As Kate watched her writer-boy walk away subsumed with creative angst, she sincerely wished him well with his shoveling. If it didn't go well, chances were good that she'd spend the end of the evening as his sounding board. During cases, she **liked** lobbing ideas back and forth in their theory-building doubles tennis match, but sometimes when they discussed ideas for his novels, it felt more like Rick was playing wall ball, and she was the wall.

\o/

* * *

Earlier on Thursday afternoon, while Espo and Evans searched the water and coves from Ensign Esposito's patrol boat, the rest of their team took care of business, like heroes. Balboa and Creed lead the effort to make the refugee families comfortable. Cannon, in a true expression of espirit de corp, took on the unviable task of maintaining the latrine services for the quintupled population of Krypton.

After Castle and Beckett rushed into the flaming hole, they found Hoax protecting the trapped families at the center of their housing unit. Castle took the hand of the little girl, and Beckett scooped up the toddler boy that were trapped inside, while the rest of their families followed after. Ryan walked as crutch to the grandfather who'd twisted his knee in the confusion.

Carrion examined everyone for smoke inhalation and administered first aid. In the chaos, no one saw Simon slip out to Shannon's aid.

Later, Ryan, Beckett and Castle conferred with Gates on the legalities of transporting all parties to the states or home to Cuba. Each of the study's participants had acquired a considerable livelihood from their time on the island. Many wanted to go home now that poverty was no longer a concern.

Solely to reassure himself that they'd actually kept him safe, Fitz roped Kreuger into helping him contact family members for the refugees. It was gonna take a lot of assurance to make up for those terrifying 10 minutes when Cordon thought the world would never get to see the person that his friend was turning into. The young Mr. Wheeler was quite convinced that post-addiction Krueger would be a spectacular creature. He couldn't wait to meet him.

Hoax deported 30 soldiers-for-hire and the remains of 1 ex-Sergeant Psychopath into Coast Guard custody for holding until General Clarence Byrd could decide what he wanted done with them. The recorded evidence that Creed uploaded to Fitz' private server via his company's satellite uplink gave them some leverage. And the secure copies the techie sent to his tweeps in virtually every time zone, ensured that the issue couldn't be conveniently disappeared. Even if they didn't have legal channels to recourse, that didn't mean The Big Byrd wouldn't be exacting some measure of justice with the bargaining chips that Krypton's operatives had secured.

To minimize negative side effects from the entanglement of state agencies and federal security forces, Charlie Byrd placed a personal call into the 12th precinct's Captain Iron Gates. The conversation that followed was so enjoyable that it ended in an invitation to come to DC for a personal tour of the Department of Defense. Victoria accepted on the condition that she be allowed to call her sister from a pentagon line, affording her the chance to ever-so-politely rub Elizabeth's face in it.

\o/

* * *

After a lot of shoveling, Hoax and Castle buried Music and Harmony under a Kapok tree. Kai-Rhee found the medal commemorating her purple heart in the box that Javi had rescued, and interred it along with Simon's Black Lab. Hoax hung his dog tags on the marker above his German Shepard.

As the rest of their friends joined, a heavy, awkward silence fell over the group. Rick scanned the congregation, curious about how the warriors would commemorate their departed. Standing in the woods in dirty, smoke stained clothes, without the benefit of clergymen or wailing women, Castle felt sure that funeral would be very different than Captain Montgomery's had been. At least _**he hoped**_ it would, on every level.

With the knife that had been held to his throat earlier, Kreuger carved an epitaph in the trunk of the tree under which their furry friends laid. He hoped it would memorialize all five souls that had left the island that day.

"Per Ardua Ad Astra?" Esposito asked, "Something Astral?"

Ryan explained with a reverent tone, "Through adversity to the stars. It's an old Irish family motto."

Castle cleared his throat, glad to have something timeless to contribute to the occasion. He offered a solemn, yet spirited recitation of Haggard. "To his right were two stately gates of iron fantastically wrought, supported by stone pillars on whose summit stood griffins of black marble embracing coats of arms and banners inscribed with the device 'Per Ardua ad Astra.'" As his tenor slid down from its lit-geek fervor, Rick explained, "Quoted by Yule for the banner of the Royal Flying Corps."

Hoax' posture slumped forward, staring at the pile of earth covering 'his girl.' Forlornly he submitted, "I like the part about the griffins."

Fitz threw his arm over the big man, barely accomplishing to reach across two thirds of his shoulders. In empathetic solidarity, Wheeler added, "I like the black marble."

Kreuger parked the knife in the bark of the tree with a stiff stab. "I like the stars."

Cannon, overwhelmed with sentimentality, wrapped his huge wingspan around the proud men with long histories of losses in battle. He hugged Hoax and Esposito into his sides with a sigh. Then he turned to drape his arms over Balboa and Creed, laying a sentimental kiss to Bob's shiny head and Delphi's perfect hair. Suspending himself between the champs, he choked back tears, squeaking, "I like the pillars."

In order to evade the feelings that she feared their gazes would provoke, Kai-Rhee turned toward the inscription. Evans traced one human finger and one prosthetic one around the grooves carved into the tree trunk, to focus, to feel out the words, to touch the meaning, to keep the tears at bay.

She could feel Espo's eyes boring into the back of her skull. Stupidly, she turned to see _**all**_ of her men desperately searching her expression for warmth. Kai-Rhee dropped her eyes to earth, admitting, "I like the iron gates."

Beckett, with the heart that expertly held victims as they learned that their lives would be forever marred by loss, joined her. She stood by Evans, mirroring her focus on the tree, placing two slender fingers into the scored bark. When Valedictoria looked up, Katherine shot two fiercely compassionate brown eyes into the Valkyrie's soul, saying, "Me too."

\o/

* * *

Under a moon drenched sky, around a regrettably stew-less campfire, Kai-Rhee's outfit submitted themselves to the forces in life _beyond_ their control. Seemingly on a mission to consume _**all **_the hootch stashed in the bunker, they offered up toasts and roasts celebrating their fallen compatriots in a continuous stream of spirits and salty laughter.

With too much whiskey dripping from his chin, feeding the flames at his feet, Cannon wrapped his arm around Hoaxy, who'd begun to tear a little at the thought of missing his bitch. The young man hoisted his bottle aloft and toasted, "May Music and Harmony sing forever in our hearts!" He released an uneven howl, mimicking the serenade that both dogs had sung for their dinner just a fortnight prior.

Ryan, Espo and Castle joined immediately in with the other men, their inebriation already advanced. With a sideways glance from Rick, even Beckett and Kai-Rhee were encouraged into a few yips and yowls.

"_Alllllllluuuuuuuuuuuuuuu yaht yah!"_

The Valkyrie watched her ten Krypton warriors huddle past midnight. The group had grown tight in an unexpected turn of events. Through the night, they endeavored to save each other from the darkness, even after all the weapons were put away.

* * *

**Damn, I'mma miss the Master Sergeant when she goes. And all of you who are still reading. Not done yet, hang wit me til we tie the pretty bow. **

_**Thanks to LoveAbby, BigKahuna, GeekMom, JJS4, TeamBromance, FuelDH206 for their excitement to post in rapid succession. **_

_**Next up: After the Funeral, who's ready for some Friendship, Fluff, Fun and the possibility of other F words? **_


	26. Chapter 26

On an island off the Florida Keys, the wall clock read:

**Day 11 Hour 0600 Zone R Month APR Year 14.**

Under it sat only silence.

\o/

* * *

Katherine Beckett in her oversized NYPD hoodie rolled over in the sand on Friday morning to find Richard Castle spooning behind her. They'd fallen asleep under the stars, with his knees tucked behind hers. A small smear of green face paint still smudged his temple and hairline. His hulking bicep draped over her waist. A little drool slipped from his open mouth, but he wiped it away without rousing when she shifted, mumbling something about bears and cobras.

Ryan was still sound asleep in Castle's bunk. Balboa had moved into Creed's. Fitz slept outside with the other boys. Hoax slumbered hard on the floor next to his bed.

Aside from Kate, Kai-Rhee was the only one awake in the space between night and a new day. She sat up and rested crossed arms over the tops of her knees. Javier's knees where tucked under hers. Even after tilting her torso upright, she still felt so warm under the blanket he'd draped over both of them before they fell asleep on the shore. When she shifted, Javi instinctively curled forward searching for the warmth her absence had stolen.

In the blue light of pre-dawn, Valedictoria Evans stared at the waves and tried to say 'goodbye.' She knew grieving's highway had barely offered its on ramp. She was years away from 'okay.'

But she'd been to the other side and back before. She knew that resilience was the real superpower at play in her life. It didn't come with flashy pink and green lights, _'__but it__'__s better at saving lives everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.__' _

The turn of phrase brought her step-father to mind. _'__huh. That__'__s Ernest__'__s line.__' _She corrected, '_**was**__, anyway. I guess it__'__s mine now.__'_

Evans didn't know much about either of the men she was mourning, even though one had been tailing her for years. But in terms of making arrangements for them, she didn't know where they came from, if they had family, or loved ones that should be informed. '_Hell, I don__'__t know either__'__s last name!__' _

She couldn't be sure if Matthew's assistant called himself Shannon as a given or surname, or if it was even his real name at all. She knew more about him than yesterday, but that wasn't saying much.

Detective Beckett had given her the abridged version of the cause of the deaths and Shannon's alleged involvement after speaking at length with Matthew. The detective seemed to think that most of the bodies resulted from accidents, or arrived DOA. However, the syringes and injections appeared to be something Shannon devised as a deterrent to anyone leaving after getting involved with trials, since the chairman had warned expressly against it.

According to Carrion, his assistant reported that no one ever _**wanted**_ to leave, but the bodies told another story. Matthew cursed himself for leaving so much responsibility in the hands of someone so young, and for being too gripped with grief to even notice if the roster of patients he saw was missing a name.

In any event, it was clear Shannon lost his way along the line, though she didn't know why.

'_That__'__s another thing he shares with, Simon.__'_ She corrected herself again, '_Uche__. He__'__s not mine anymore. I don__'__t get to keep calling him the name I gave. He__'__s on his way.__'_

The person who'd started looking out for her, hidden in treetops, had never shared his name with her. She'd only learned it when someone familiar to him used it at a street bizarre. By then, she'd already started calling him Simon, which he seemed to enjoy much more.

Whoever Uche was before they met, he'd obtained a number of skills that upstanding people would never have cause to learn. Aside from the all the death he dealt too easily defending Kai-Rhee and her unit, whatever money he used to support himself in the years before she'd hired him on Krypton couldn't have been legally wrought.

Esposito had been right to express concern, his hands had certainly been bloodied. Evans never wanted to know how.

She had no idea what kind of spirit would be accepting their souls, or who either of them prayed to. And she didn't presume any direct line to her own divinity. Evan's mom, sister and brother were religious, but she'd never managed to pray more than 'the New Orleans way,' usually at a bar with photos of ancestors and a brief nod to idols decked in fanciful colors. She hadn't a clue if the man she'd called Simon knew Our Lady of Regla, but figured the odds were good that he'd been acquainted with a similar incarnation.

Since her friend had gone to rest in Yemaya, blue and white lady of the waters, she decided to direct her good will in that direction. Mothers were good for relaying messages.

She tried to imagine an accepting presence in the never-still waters of the Atlantic stretching out before her. The waves lapped with appropriate sadness. The terns trumpeted with fitting heralds. But she felt inadequate for the task. Trying to 'say' something meaningful, even inside her head, was wildly uncomfortable for Evans. She faired no better than she had as an adolescent wobbling down the chapel aisle in white patent leather pumps. To Evans, anything 'Sunday best' equaled awkward. She borrowed the start of her intercession from a chant she'd picked up in childhood.

'_Yemaya of the waters, Yemaya of all tears, if Uche is with you now, tell him__…__(what? I guess)__…'__Thanks__' __from me.__'_

Kai-Rhee stood up, her first task complete.

She knew that's all the reflective time she'd get for a long while. It was Friday. Not only were there families and clients who needed help leaving, it wasn't her way to let herself feel the loss until after she'd already moved on to other good things in her life. She didn't cry over her step-father until after she'd been promoted to Master Sergeant. She didn't cry over her injury until a week earlier, the night Esposito showed up and made love to her for the first time in the many years they'd been apart. _'__That was only 7 days ago? Damn, time bends when I__'__m with him. Good thing he__'__s going home soon, there__'__s only so much __'__**evolving**__**'**__ a solider can take.__' _

Hoax, Espo, those who knew her, already knew she'd be utterly unaffected by the tragedy as soon as she rose with the sun. The handful of people who knew Kai-Rhee** well** understood it wasn't just a brave face. Her wiring dictated that her losses not demand tribute until the work was done. She'd drunk her libation last night, leaving the rest of her days for action.

She scanned the beach, already prioritizing her sizable task list. When she noticed Fitz, Kreuger and Cannon sprawled in an overlapping formation with each set of feet in another man's face, she didn't envy them the hangovers they'd be waking with. Though the idea of Fitzy preoccupied with splitting cranial pain did comfort her greatly. _'__That means he__'__ll be too distracted to cry at me before he goes. Nobody wants to see that.__'_

\o/

* * *

Kate Beckett noticed Kai-Rhee heading off to the mess hall. The detective rose and followed, in hopes of sharing a private moment and maybe some more of that real coffee.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all, Detective." There was no hint of sadness, or even fatigue, in Evans' voice. She sounded ready to attack the day even before she'd consumed all of her caffeinated ambition. Evans pulled out a second cup and poured java gold for her new detective friend. "You ready to head home?"

"Yes, but are you sure you don't need more help here? I can't imagine how you are going to deal with this mess."

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm a lot more _**pleasant**_ when I've got my hands in a big project."

Kate smiled, marveling that Evans was already able to laugh at herself with an eye on long range planning.

"Besides, I'm not entirely sure that I'll rebuild. Matthew planted some hefty pipe dreams in my imagination. There are veterans that could really use what he's been working on." She turned over the device still attached to her finger. She'd continued wearing it to get a feel for whether she might like to have the surgery that would permanently attach it, as the doc suggested. According to him, that's how it was designed to work best.

Valedictoria looked out the window to the brightening sky before she continued. "With my help, we might be able to save a lotta people from a lotta hurtin.'" She took another sip, "Might have to re-join the human race to explore the possibilities."

Beckett envied Evans her optimism about a fresh start. Kate pined for the day hers would come. She'd almost given up hope of ever bringing her mother's killer to justice, except that Castle kept restoring it whenever she tried to throw in the towel. She'd been tailing a new lead for a few weeks, but so far all it amounted to was a catalogue of dates, times and places in her notebook. Nothing that smelt of a game-changing discovery.

Katherine offered, "Well, I'm grateful for what you've done for Rick. And Espo and Ryan." She considered all the fun they'd be having with aliases for months to come. "Even if it wasn't the vacation we were looking for, I'm really glad we were all here to help. What you've done here, it's really remarkable." She thought about the permanent mark the Master Sergeant had left on her fiance's psyche. "I'm so glad I got to meet you."

"Likewise, Detective. Your team's impressive. Never seen civilians work like that to take care of business _**and**_ manage to stay human at the same time. It's quite a gift. I think I can learn quite a bit from you." She favored Kate with a rare smile.

Beckett smiled back at her candor, proud to have gained enough of her trust that she'd share something like that.

That was just the intro Kai-Rhee needed. "Speaking of gifts… It occurs to me that you've more than earned a moniker of your own, if you're interested. I think '_Portia_' sells you a little short in the brains department."

Beckett had never considered being jealous of Castle and Espo for their titles from Kai-Rhee, but standing in Kai-Rhee's shadow the idea was too intriguing to pass on. Her eyes brightened. "Sure. I'd love to hear what you'd come up with for me."

"Was no easy task, had to be a predator, with keen sight, and lofty ideology. Couldn't be crude or common, something sleek and aerodynamic. Had to be able to dive into things to win her prize…" Evans slyly baited with a far off look in her eye, "…I had a helluva time with it."

Kate was hooked. She saw why Castle got so excited over the whole naming ceremony. "So?"

"Sooo, I landed on something to go with your chestnut hair and truth seeking talons."

'_Oh, s__he__'__s good.__ Now she's just teasing me.' _Beckett met her stare with the same resolve that cooly turned down Castle's advances while her insides were leaping with expectancy. She searched the face of her riddler for hints that would tip her off.

Kai-Rhee's facial expression set itself to opaque.

Quickly catching on to the game, Beckett let the clues reorganize themselves in her head. She took a sip of her coffee to buy her some time to mull it over. After a moment of delicious anticipation and creative mental wordplay, Kate announced excitedly,_ "__It__'__s a Hawk!__" _

Kai-Rhee laughed at the girlish glee in the detective's eyes. "Yep. You guessed it. I thought the streets of New York would be a lot safer with Hawkgirl looking out for them. Or Hawkwoman, up to you."

Kate laughed to herself that her fiance's fluffy feline animal totem stood zero chance of gaining the upper hand on the likes of her ferocious bird of prey._ '__Hawk eats kitten. That role play should be a hoot!__'_

\o/

* * *

Most of the families had slept on the beach. Cold bonfires blackened the centers of their tight clusters. The ones with elders and children were afforded the quarters that Kate, Adnan and Cannon surrendered to the cause.

Under The Big Byrd's dispensation, Ensign Esposito was permitted to bring in his Coastie friends for a Red Cross style regrouping for all the island's residents complete with scratchy wool blankets and crappy coffee as day broke Friday morning.

And, of course, there were donuts.

When Kai-Rhee saw the spread, she decided to indulge in the first cream-filled pastry she'd had in almost a decade.

Javier walked over to see what she was up to, still rubbing the morning out of his eyes and squinting bleary-eyed from the effects of Mamacita Tequila.

Valedictoria picked up a 'toroidal antidote to mortality' for one of her favorite people in the world. "Here. You keep doing what you do. I don't wanna think about this planet without you on it."

Without using his hands, Javi took a big bite and dared to kiss her on the lips in front of all the people rousing on the beach. On any other day, she would've pulled away from the public display, and maybe slapped him for exposing the side of her that needed human connection. But in that moment, something changed.

The kiss took her totally by surprise. When she'd made her offer, he appeared to be barely conscious. But the force with which he pressed himself against her, the speed with which he drew her in, the silliness of the granulated sugar gritting between them, told another story. It all worked against her better judgement and usual decorum.

Even though she would prefer to think of herself otherwise, after the fight she'd just been through, she'd didn't stand a chance. She was powerless against the pleasure he brought her. His surprise attack got through every defense.

The intrusion of her personal space shifted Evans' mind to things she rarely focused on, everything life affirming beyond the bare necessities of survival. With his lips pressed to hers, inside her a new **hope** danced, and swooned, and serenaded the liminal sky overhead that housed both the moon and sun.

Because her Roc had been with her for that time of seismic transition, she wasn't leaving the island with only the familiar engine of work to fuel her life. His presence, and sweet brown sugar, put her in the mind to set a new goal: to learn to enjoy herself, too. It was lofty. She might not make it from where she started, but it fell under the category of 'shoot for the moon and land amongst the stars.' She was already proud of herself for even trying.

\o/

* * *

"Bro, really? You can do better."

"Whaddya mean? It doesn't** get** better than The Scarlet Speedster!" Kevin was sure his reasoning was solid. "The Flash is _**by definition**_ the coolest detective of all time."

"Listen, not everyone can be blessed with a name like 'Javier.' I get it." He placed a benevolent hand on his own chest in show of royalty. "Some names, like yours, will never pass the sex test."

Ryan screwed up his face in annoyed confusion. He didn't know what his partner was talking about, but he knew he was supposed to be insulted.

Espo explained, "The Sex test. I'm sure you and Jenny considered this factor when you chose a name for Sarah."

"I can assure you we did nothing of the sort." Kev confessed, "Once we crossed off all the names that one of us associated with someone distasteful in our pasts, Sarah and Grace were the only ones left on the list of nominations for girls. So, we named her after Jen's grandmother."

"Bro, you can't give someone a name without considering how it will fare in the bedroom. That's just cruel. If it kills the mood when their partner is in a fit of passion, it's really not fit to have."

Ryan bristled with protective daddy thoughts.

Javier pressed on, attempting to illuminate his friend on the golden opportunity about to pass him by. "This is your chance to upgrade from Kevin to something with suave, something with cajones…" His voice turned incredulous, "And you're petitioning for _Barry _or _Wally_?" His voice dropped a half step, "Come on, bro."

When Kevin crossed his arms in a show of standing his ground on the matter, Espo tried a metaphor. "Dude, you're already at ground floor. Why you gonna push the button for basement?"

When Ryan turned his back to resume packing, Javi back-pedaled, "Don't get me wrong, 'Kevin' is fine. And I'm sure a 'Wally' or a 'Barry' would file impeccable taxes."

"Or fight crime as a super detective with super speed…"

"Or fight _**imaginary**_ crime, in an _**imaginary**_ Universe, where women never wear flat shoes or bras…Look, I'm not saying they aren't perfectly respectable for what they are. But this is your chance to feel the power of something with real sex appeal."

Kevin continued folding. "I do just fine thank you." He huffed indignantly. _'__**Aren**__**'**__**t I **__the one already married? It couldn__'__t be all that bad.__' _

"So, you never noticed that women have an easier time vocalizing 'Ryan' when referring to you?"

Kev turned down the corners of his mouth at Javi's shabby supporting argument. "Beckett does that with everyone, including you."

"What about Cassie?"

Kev knew Espo was referring to the one woman they'd shared, long before he'd met Jenny. But he couldn't for the life of him figure why. "What about her? I think we both know that she was perfectly satisfied with my performance." Ryan was quite confident on this point. He had the video to prove it.

"You mean to tell me, after all the times you've re-watched, you never noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

Espo made a big porn-star show of intoning, "Jaavvvviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

Ryan was all too familiar with that part of the recording. It still made him the slightest bit insecure. "Yeah, what about it? She called my name, too."

"Yeah, _**Ryan**_. Then she sputters the teensiest lil 'Kevin' before it totally kills her buzz, so she launches right back into another 'Ryan' again." Javi refrained from adding, _'__Like she needed something to erase the feel of it in her mouth.__'_

His partner turned his back on the blunt truth.

As a peace offering, Espo offered the worn-out running shoes Kev still needed to pack. He didn't want to be cruel. He was just looking out for his best friend. "Ry, I just don't want you to miss out on a good thing. 'Til death do us part' is a long time to be married. Eventually, you might need a little help spicing things up." Javier considered the sage advice he was dropping a public service announcement. _'__Poor boy obviously has no clue what he__'__s missing.__'_

Ryan snapped the shoes out of his partner's hands. "I'll take it under advisement."

"All I'm asking…but you better think quick cause the shuttle's leaving in half an hour." Javi's tone turned warm and comforting, "And we're going **home**."

The mention of home melted Kevin's heart. _'__I__'__d name myself __'__the-detective-formerly-know-as-flying-monkey__' __if it meant I got to hold my girls right now.__'_ Jenny would be flying home that day, too. And Ryan planned to pick up his baby girl from his in-laws on the way back from the airport.

Kevin needed more than warm honey milk to settle his nerves after the 'world's worst excuse for a vacation' they'd had that week. He needed his blonde angels to snuggle, one under each arm, and coo unintelligible things in his ears about how irreplaceable he was. _'__More likely, I__'__ll spend the night taking out bins of recycling, and reloading the dishwasher _**_'_**_**the right**__**' **__way, but that__'__s close enough.__' _

After noticing that his thoughts had drifted away from Esposito, who was still standing in front of him looking expectant, he realized that his partner needed something.

"Come here, bro." Kevin pulled his best friend in for a hug. No one was watching, and he could tell that Espo was having a 'I-can't-ask-for-help-even-though-I-need-it' moment.

Javier accepted the gesture, but tried not to let on how gladly.

Kev assured, "Once we get to New York, it'll all be fine."

\o/

* * *

All morning, Evans purposely kept herself busy with tasks in plain sight of others in order to avoid a sappy good-bye with Roc. She addressed Kevin first as both members of Team Bromance walked down the dock shoulder to shoulder, packed bags in hand.

"Detective Ryan, my offer still stands, though I think 'Fenton' suits you well enough. I understand if that name brings up too many painful memories." She flipped her chin upward, "So, you have a petition for me?"

Kai-Rhee and Kevin had shared a rip roaring Irish Whiskey shot contest the night prior, that included some steroidal version of truth or dare. They'd collapsed in laughter so many times before they fell off the pilings where they were reenacting Karate Kid crane kicks, that Evans felt quite sure they'd be staying in touch for years to come.

"I think I'm gonna go with Flash."

Espo smiled. It still wasn't as virile as anything on his roster of pseudonyms, but at least it showed some potential in the mythology department.

Evan's eyes filled with mischief. "Really?" An amused snort rubbed up the back of her throat before escaping through her nostrils. "I can't vouch for how Mrs. Ryan will feel about a name for something so _**fleeting**_…" her eyebrows arched, "…but at least that one's been tested for sexability."

Javier immediately took his cue, intoning like a damsel in heat, "Flash, Flash, I love you, but we only have 14 hours to save the earth…."

Ryan backhanded his partner's chest to interrupt the all-too-convincing feminine voice-over. "Stop it. I prefer _**The**__ Flash._" He argued with his partner, "Ya see? That's exactly why Barry or Wally works so much better. Otherwise it confuses people with Flash Gordon."

"No one's confused, bro. You picked a prizefight name. In this corner, The Irish Wally, O Come Now O'Connell, Fenton Fantastic, it's Kevin Ryan. He'll be dropping his opponent in a flash…"

Ryan thought Esposito was prating on like a fool. He folded his arms, confident that there'd still be plenty of egg to throw on his partner's face when they got back to New York, despite the free pass Espo had been enjoying on the island.

Kai-Rhee didn't seem to share Ryan's opinion that Javi was taking it too far. She smirked like the devil and joined in with the banter to show them both that she'd accepted Kevin Ryan completely into her fold, "Cept if you role play _**that**_ in the bedroom, it means your wife's gonna need something with batteries later." She held out her forearm, palm upwards to Espo.

"You know it." Her old friend obliged by running his palm from her elbow crease to her hand, so happy to be joking with her like they used to AND hazing Ryan at the same time. It normalized every uncharacteristic feeling he'd had all week. As he offered his forearm for her reciprocal stroke, he added a jive accent to, "Slip me some skin."

'_Can__'__t believe there are __**more **__where he comes from.__'_ Ryan excused himself while they clowned him, walking to the gangplank to hand over his larger bag to be stowed. _'__God save us from the second coming of Espo.__' _

Kev returned for a handshake, sarcasm reloaded. "Master Sergeant, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Balboa. You can _**never**_ come to New York. Two Javi's, just like two Castle's, in one city is bound to trip-start the apocalypse. And I've seen what you two can do to rearrange the ground beneath our feet. Let's keep the island of Manhattan above sea level, alright?"

She nodded and took his hand. "A reasonable request."

Kevin dissolved his sardonic tone with a pure-as-honey-mead smile. Sincerely, he offered, "Thanks for taking care of my partner." Despite the trouble, he was glad that Javier had the chance to come down to the island, but even more so that he was returning home with _him, _instead of staying to help her rebuild. Hoax had mentioned his job offer to keep Espo on Krypton. Ryan knew that regardless of Evan's plans, the big man intended to stay if he could.

As Kai-Rhee shook Ryan's hand, she transferred a debt of gratitude. "Thanks for taking care of my friend."

"Sure thing." Kevin nodded knowingly before turning to leave.

As Ryan retreated, she recognized, '_He does indeed make an excellent partner for my Roc.__'_ Kai-Rhee let her eyes follow the junior detective onto the boat, stalling the much more difficult, but no less inevitable 'good bye.' When the Irishmen disappeared into the hull, she stood frozen.

Espo had a half moment to gaze at Valedictoria in profile. The left, unmarked side of her face presented to him like an alternate version of who she might have been without the bad luck. Her skin like glazed caramel shone in aurulent light, her features, set in determination, still beautiful and proud. He loved her, but she was too big to contain. It would feel disrespectful to even try.

"So…"

"So…"

"Thanks for my ticket."

"You know I charged Castle for that."

"Yeah, but he didn't put me up for the week …or invite me to dance."

She could see he wanted to hold her, but she couldn't accept it. She'd already started moving toward her next horizon and needed her armor again. She needed to keep moving forward. Evans deflected, "I believe _**you**_ were the one that turned on the music, and offered your hand."

From her stiff stance, he knew she wouldn't accept an embrace. Javier settled for taking her right hand, drawing it to his face and kissing the web of scarring along the back of her palm. Before he released his lips from her skin, Javi held her captive with two deep umber eyes, blazing with powerful feelings. His grip on her fingers held the spectral weapon between them. The lethal tip pointed directly at his throat.

Despite the obvious danger, she still managed to make him feel like nothing could ever go wrong between them.

Without releasing her, he thought about the men he'd found flocked to her side. How each of them refused to leave her, regardless of their battle preparedness. Kreuger and Fitz had stayed steadfast for weeks, requiring the threat of lethal force to pack their bags for the boat. Cannon jumped on artillery duty before anyone could ask. Balboa and Creed assigned themselves her spies. Hoax stuck with her after his tours. Simon had followed her halfway round the globe. 7 men, most of whom she'd just met, unwilling to leave her in danger, so desperate to realize for themselves the potential she saw in them.

"With or without this…" He held up her new prosthetic, "...you're the eighth wonder, girl."

\o/

* * *

After Evans watched Esposito cross the gang plank onto the ship headed for the mainland, Castle and Beckett approached the dock, rolling their luggage behind.

"Writer-boy!"

Rick froze at the uncertain meaning of his master's address. _'__Oh please don__'__t take my name again. Whatever I did I__'__m sorry. I really wanna go home with something.__' _

"Was it my imagination that saw you fire two warheads from your shoulder, yesterday?"

He straightened his shoulders in self-satisfaction. "No, sensei. You are in full control of your faculties."

"And am I correct in understanding, that you sank half an island, with the help of your better half here?"

His eyebrows crashed in uncertainly. "That was an accident."

"Well, it's no accident that your name already has all the makings of a bad ass mutha, so I'm thinking I'm gonna give you a _promotion_."

Castle shot a quick glance at Beckett that telegraphed his internal, _'__Yippee!__' _

Kai-Rhee let her meaning stoke more excitement behind Rick's eyes before she continued, "Think I'mma shorten 'Nermal' to 'Mal.'"

Castle grasped an invisible ring of fiendish excitement with both hands. "Seriously? Mal, as in _**bad**_?" His eyes flashed with uncontainable joy, too-good-to-be-true joy, better-than-coffee-flavored-ice-cream joy.

She teased, "What? You don't like it? We can always go back to Plan 'A,' _kitten_."

"No, no. I love it! Don't change a thing!" After noticing how carried away he'd gotten, he humbly added, "please, Master."

Beckett leaned her head away to observe her partner. "Mal. hm. It suits you, Castle."

Both Rick and Kate were thinking the same thing: _'__Now __**that**__ has a lot more possibilities in the bedroom.__' _

Invoking the optimistic tone of a true super-friend, the woman who hunted like a hawk extended her arm to offer a firm handshake. "Thanks, Master Sergeant. And good luck."

Kai-Rhee payed her respect. Katherine Beckett's leadership held Krypton together while she was unable to do so herself. "To you, too. With these three, you'll need it."

Beckett joined the other detectives on the boat to let her fiancé say goodbye to the woman who'd made such an impression on him.

When Kate passed out of ear shot, Kai-Rhee drew the wealthy author into a private conversation. "I'm glad you're pleased, _Mal_. But on the subject of names we need to have a little chat."

Rick gulped. "We do?" Nothing was ever that easy with Kai-Rhee.

"It's come to my attention that you, on occasion, address Detective Esposito as 'Zito.'" Her stare intensified. She turned up the burner on Castle's brain pan to a simmer, so that he would be sure to cook their conversation into his memory.

"Is that bad?"

"Very."

'_She used an adverb!?__' _Castle's distress skyrocketed. Worriedly, his eyes shifted back and forth under a compressed brow. _'__How did I manage to screw up before I even stepped foot on the island? I__'__ve only used it a few times, and with great affection. I thought it was a big step in our relationship that Espo accepted the gesture at all!__'_

"That's off limits from now on." She let her hardened gaze retract to something cold and icy. Something that would betray all the stay-the-fuck-away of a hungry tiger tearing apart a slab of meat.

Rick whimpered, "It is?"

"Yes. You see, I named him I-ROC-Z, because only **I Rock Zito**."

Castle flushed as red as Fitzy's sunburn at the intimation of a woman as ferocious as Kai-Rhee harboring an equally ferocious libido.

Recognizing her successful message delivery, Evans switched gears. Feigning boredness that an obtuse grunt failed to grasp the appropriate response, Kai-Rhee refocused her eyes on the horizon and raised her voice. "Am I coming through?"

Rick snapped to comprehension. "Crystal Clear, Master Sergeant, Sir."

"Good man." She let one edge of her mouth smirk in something not unlike the sass that Lanie Parrish liked to dish his way. "Now get off my island."

"Yes, Sensei."

* * *

_**Almost there.**_

_**Love for everyone who favorited this early on: Normantipton, **__**Schlitzi2000**__**, **__**Tom1292**__**, **__**Wilsalx**__**, **__**genedoc**__**, **__**sammysgirl78**__**, **__**southerngirl1**__**, OnkelJo, FuelDH206, Geekmom, **__**teambromance**__** and, of course, CastleFicathon & CFPromoter for the challenge and support. **_

_**Next up: How's Lanie's new interior? And how do Beckett, Castle, Ryan & Espo get home?**_


	27. Chapter 27

On the 3 hour boat ride to the mainland, the 12th precinct crew had plenty of time to say their goodbyes to their new millionaire friends. Despite the many ups and downs of their time on Kai-Rhee's island, all the clients wore smiles as they immersed themselves in conversations, soaking in the last bits of each other's company.

Cannon, in particular, wore a proudly beaming grin as he stood remembering their Krypton send off.

*o*

Before embarkation, the football player drew Detective Esposito into a huddle to review their plan. Soon after, Espo lead a charge of all the wealthy clients to wish Hoax well by simultaneously rushing him at Cannon's count-off and piling on top of the big man.

When Ryan stood idly by, Kreuger used his newly wrought muscles to hoist the detective by the waist in an effort to drag him into the fun, since he felt incapable of offering meaningful thanks verbally. When Kev evaded, Cordie came to Kreuger's aid. Eventually the young men held the hungover Irishmen aloft in a jointly accomplished military press, before dumping him directly onto Castle at the top of the stack.

As supposedly grown men heaped on top of each other like puppies in a playful game of 'capture the giant,' Cannon surmised it was the most successful tackle he'd ever led.

Beckett and Kai-Rhee stood watching the display of male bonding with their heads cocked to one side, at matching angles, waiting for the men to come up for air. From their point of view, all 9 seemed to linger in the writhen pile of limbs much longer than necessary, and each reemerged with a much toothier grin than the exchange of bruises seemed to warrant.

"It must be more fun than it looks," Beckett commented.

Evans narrowed her eyes trying to assign the various arms in various skin tones to their corresponding heads and torsos. "Couldn't tell ya."

Kate imagined that tackling Kai-Rhee was not something that many had tried, at least not for fun.

Even after his mob retreated, Hoax remained sprawled out on the sand. Rolling over to face the sun, he splayed himself like a starfish, soaking in the moment still rife with laughter. When Cannon stood over him to offer help up, Horatio pulled the young man's left leg clear out from under him and proceeded to 'thank him' with noogies to his blonde head. By the time Cannon cried 'Uncle,' Camacho had repaid every knuckle-to-scalp injury that Fitzy had received over the preceding month.

As his tormentor protested, Cordie cried from the sidelines, "Justice! Justice! Ahhh! Hoaxy **IS** a defender of the light, after all!"

*o*

The joy and relief that Cordon felt was evident all over his face. The fact that EVERY ONE of his beloved cohorts was able to load onto the boat with him, more than made up for the worst alcohol-induced headache he'd ever awoken with. As Fitzy stood in a wide stance on the deck of the boat, surfing the sway of the hull hitting the water, not even nausea could tamp his mood. He was basically giddy that Kreuger actually looked _**happy**_ for the first time since he'd met him.

In fact, all the Kryptonians looked pleased to be inhaling brisk sea-sprayed air. As they congregated above decks, Balboa and Creed bubbled in conversation with their new friends about the beautiful spring weather and the events of their exciting rescue op.

When Espo and Beckett retreated to the bow of the boat for a private discussion, Rick passed out his cards to his fellow bootcampers. Since he was off the island, he knew networking would no longer endanger Castle Junior.

The author encouraged the group, "Make sure you keep in touch. I've got a signed copy of Naked Heat for each of you, if you'd like it. I'd so enjoy a visit next time I'm on a book tour. And I expect you each to do the same next time you're in the Big Apple."

"Well, wait 'til fall to visit us." Creedon motioned to Adnan. "You'll find no relief from the heat in Atlanta. We'll be hiding out somewhere on the continent, spilling money like wine to keep our ladies fair in the latest fashions."

"Not that they'll be wearing them long," his partner leered.

Castle observed how new money was to Delphi and Bob. They still talked about finances and lifestyles like kids with too much allowance. They were obviously the best sort of men aside from all that, but he didn't envy them the learning curve to getting to a better place around privilege. He sincerely wished neither would need to graduate to wife number three before they got there.

"LA can't help you there either." Fitz quipped sarcastically, "but we have this super cool invention called air conditioning, so, you'll never even notice." He smirked at Balboa and Creed accepting playful punches from the heavyweights.

After coughing out some dramatized blows, the programmer continued, "Plus, this will be my first summer on beaches with decent sand. I hear it's gonna change my life. Be happy to kick around Venice with you, Castle. I think you'd fit right in with the freak show. Maybe we can pump a little iron on Muscle Beach and give em all a show of Kai-Rhee's handiwork." He internally rotated both arms to flex his small, but surprising well-defined, triceps.

Rick quickly imagined himself dressed in a ripped body builder's tank, popping still-latent neck veins alongside Hollywood Hulk Hogan and the Governator. "I think I'd like that, Fitzy."

"I wanna come, too!" Kreuger spoke. The group nearly froze in shock that the man_ voluntarily_ joined a group discussion.

Luckily, Castle recovered his grace in time to save them all from awkward gawking. "You familiar with Venice Beach?"

"Sure. I lived in Santa Monica for awhile, but then my parents moved to Pasadena."

Castle searched Fitzy's face to see if he'd known all along that Kreuger would be following him back to Los Angeles. Cordie's expression explained, _'__see what I__'__m saying? Even if I **wanted to**, I can__'__t get away.__' _

Richard answered, "I see. Well, then you're the perfect tour guide. Fitz is new to the area, and my last trip didn't afford much sight seeing. Maybe you can show us both around? I'll be there signing books in just a couple of weeks, as luck would have it, just before my wedding."

Rick's eyes shifted toward his fiance. She turned to rest her back on the rim of the boat, redirecting the wind to flap all her lustrous tendrils around her face in his direction. They beckoned to him, drawing him in with longing.

When Katherine noticed his attention, she flashed the smile that made him forget all the pain that men's shortcomings made in the world.

Before following his impulse to her side, Castle looked back to see Kreuger nodding. "It's a date! Will you excuse me, gentlemen?"

Kevin replaced Rick's empty spot in the circle, and addressed his new friend in front of the whole group. "Did I hear right? You meeting Castle with Krueger in LA?"

Fitz managed to contain his enthusiasm in a tiny nod, but his cheeks were most certainly pink, and not from Cannon's sunblock pranks.

Ryan let his working class accent unfurl. "Well, idn't that a nice little bow? Jeez, you millionaires and your jet setting. Espo and I will be slaving over more dead bodies, and paperwork in stacks as tall as your morning smoothies."

"I really don't know how you do it!" Cannon exclaimed, shaking his head. When the tall blonde noticed Ryan's brow crease at the comment, he stopped abruptly. "Not the working. I'm looking forward to getting a job, myself, as soon as I get back. Maybe even hit Hoax up for a spot on Krypton, if he'll take me. I mean the bodies, and _murdered_ ones. I thought it was hard enough to go to open casket funerals for my great-grandparents, and they _**wanted**_ to die by the end. But all the folks you see, they shouldn't _**be**_ dead. How do you keep your cool?"

When Ryan didn't seem to have an answer, Cordon attempted a stab at it. "Are you kidding me? Did you not **see** him yesterday lining up that shot to save our friend here? Detective Ryan doesn't know what it means to be 'un-cool!' He leaves that to dweebs like me who almost pass out when faced with the science of decomposition." He continued answering Cannon's question but turned his eyes to watch Ryan take in the compliment. "Kevin Ryan is the epitome of 'cool.'"

"Thanks Fitz." The young detective invoked a Fenton-like wink with Irish charm oozing off of every feature. "Hope some of it wears off on ya."

"Me too, Detective. Me too."

\o/

* * *

When the New York foursome docked in Key West, they received instructions that would connect them to a familiar silver Porsche and Bugatti Veyron waiting in an attended lot. They shook out their sea legs as they crossed the street, passing parades of eccentric residents and inebriated visitors. Castle felt like a new man striding through a crowd of plump, slouchy laymen. He noticed how unconsciously his lats worked to give him the posture that he'd always envied when Espo strode by.

In fact, even the professional drinkers, who'd moved to Margaritaville expressly for the purpose of wasting away, took note of the homicide team as they observed the street scene from their posts alfresco. A man who'd commandeered one bar stool or another for nearly 3 decades froze mid-sip as the detectives and writer pierced the crowd. Even through faded eyes, faded clothes, and a faded spirit, the ghost in a shell couldn't look away from Castle, Beckett, Ryan and Esposito. To him, they stood out undeniably from the crowd.

Esposito's squared shoulders and confident gait made it impossible to mistake him for tourist stock. Ryan walked with too much care and too little cockiness to fill out his frat boy features. Castle walked with uncalled for focus, caught up in the physicality of his new body (secretly imagining himself as various characters from Derrick Storm novels). And of course, Beckett's beauty, posture, symmetry and style were impervious to camouflage. Her drab outfit couldn't hide the goddess underneath.

Though stylish, Caskett's dark sunglasses and Rysposito's mirrored aviators did nothing to keep them incognito. Because they looked like movie stars, it was kinda hard to pass through a crowd unnoticed. Even to the undead who'd run full speed downhill **_away_** from the challenge of their lives, the 4 individuals headed to New York City were clearly head and shoulders above the rest. It gave their voyeurs pause.

"What's got ya gone stiff, ole buddy?"

"Not sure, just look." The saloon fixture rocked his glass in the direction of the detectives.

"Ah, look at those jokers, taking life too seriously. Won't they be sorry when they realize it's all for naught?" The slightly younger man slurred his address to the anonymous crowd passing by. "Drink up, folks! It's juss a dream!"

"I don't know, man. Look at 'em. Look pretty real to me. Looks like they know sumpin. Like they got a reason to get em outta bed in the morning."

His companion reinforced the forces stapling them both to inertia, "Nah. It's just for show. That kinda life is pain. Those fools still in there duckin' and weavin' are gettin' clobbered. We have the good seats ringside." He slapped his friend on the back. "Now tell me again 'bout chur life in the big city. Tell me about Tomcat vs. 'The Kid' Clifton. Tell me about May 30th, Midway Stadium. I can recite it word for word by now, but if you do the tellin, you'll amember soon enough why you left."

"Guess you're right."

"You guess?! Barkeep, we need another round! Seems our friend here can't remember his own priceless words oh wisdom. Whattaya think made me stick around for all these years? You were right, brother. **_This_** is the life." He took a swig of his drink and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Hoisting his cup to the distractions in question as they walked by, he rationalized, "Only people who can win at **_that_** kinda life got pretty faces, not ugly mugs like us..."

Both men slogged another mouthful of alcohol and slid their hands down cool glasses sweating condensation, intending to refocus on their usual daily business. But, the older gentlemen was smacked out of his stupor when Castle called a familiar surname loudly across the crowd.

"Yo, Espo, get over here. We need you in this picture!"

From his stool, he saw the man answering to that name shake his head at his companions, look left and right at all the people watching, and refuse. "Dude, bro, y'all look ridiculous with 10 foot lobster in a suit. I am not posing with that."

With interest, he watched the two paler men brighten when the woman with them whispered something inaudible into Espo's ear that brought him quickly into compliance. After a few shots imitating Charlie's Angels, the group broke up with hugs and smiles. _'Just another group of idiots on vacation, after all. Nuttin' special.'_

But the faithful bar patron caught his breath when Espo took off his sunglasses to readjust them after the picture. _'Ah, fuck...nobody forgets eyes like that.' _He turned toward his counterpart. "I better get that next round now, and make it a double, no triple. Shit, just bring me the bottle. No need to go half-assed today... I'm a professional, after all."

\o/

* * *

After turning the corner, the New Yorkers passed a man painted head to toe in silver, busking for tips with still-as-statue poses. As she passed, Katherine carelessly glanced her fawn-like eyes up to his pedestal. The performer answered his usual cue with a abrupt robotic swing of his torso to drop his face to hers, intending to startle/impress her into a generous contribution.

Unfortunately for Mr. Metallic, Ryan and Esposito protectively drew their weapons in the 1.47 seconds it took him to ply his intrusive schtick. The sounds of hardware clicking were followed by distinctive drips hitting pavement, and a sad whimper that only mortification could conceive.

Red threatened to infiltrate reflective silver face paint, as the performance artist peed his pants with his nose hung 2 inches from the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Luckily, Castle commiserated with the K-Bex effect, especially when combined with a classic bro special. After a whispered query into the man's ear, the author stuffed a gratuity into the tip jar that would afford the poor man a week off and perhaps enough quality time with friends to weld together a new ego.

The boys apologized for their jumpy nerves, but not for the swagger that ushered them on their way. As the false alarm proved, their partnership still 'had it,' even on hiatus. A half block later, when no one appeared to be looking, Espo silently held out baby birds, which Ryan fed without looking.

\o/

* * *

As Kate approached her favorite custom Porsche, she considered alternatives that would reward her lover for his compassion. After a quick sketch of the pleasure potential, she threw the keys to Castle.

Rick caught them overhead with unconscious reflexes. When he realized what Beckett was offering, his face brightened with appreciation of the possibilities. "What a fine idea! I've always wanted to James Dean my way up the coastline."

She warned, "Be careful. This one's got a lot more _**kick**_ than what you're used to."

"Oh, Detective Beckett, I'd expect nothing less from you. That's why I had to get these." He popped his pectoral muscles under his well-fitted t-shirt. The green lantern symbol on the front appeared to blip 'on' momentarily, as the silkscreen reflected the bright sun.

She rolled her eyes. '_Yes, I__'__m marrying a man-child. But at least he__'__s outfitted with all the fun __'__equipment__' __that comes with a superhero, now.__' _

Watching Kate gave Espo an idea. He mentioned casually, as they crossed the curb to the Bugatti, "You can drive."

Kevin's face lit up like he'd unwrapped a Corgie pup on Christmas morning. "Really, I can?"

"**No.** Not really." Espo shook his head in utter disappointment that Kev managed to fall for that. "Bro!" He admonished, "I'm _**never**_ gonna let you drive."

"Got it." Ryan ruminated, _'__Well, maybe I wouldn__'__t mind overturning **a **__**few** of the natural flows of the Universe. Cause apparently __'__cool__' __is relative. Very relative.__'_

\o/

* * *

Lanie Parrish's apartment was more spacious than it had ever been, but that didn't keep her from stumbling over herself on the way to the bathroom Friday morning before work.

She blamed it on the wine, but she knew it was more likely a result of dehydration caused by balling her eyes out during the movie she'd watched before bed. Parrish hadn't planned on entertainment, but she preferred to pop in something sentimental whenever she felt the urge to cry-it-out. It made her feel contained in a strange way.

The idea of bursting into tears in an empty bedroom just seemed way too spinster-y and pathetic. Lanie Parrish was a cool customer even for her own self. No one could accuse her otherwise.

She cursed the pain that shot into her pinky toe as the bedpost wrenched it from it's brethren. _'__Shoot. Now I__'__ll have to wear flats to work.__"_ When she saw the purple bruises forming on her stubbed toe, she knew that her usual heels would be a poor choice.

'_Good thing Espo won__'__t be there.__' _The medical examiner liked it a lot better when she could look her ex level-on in the eye. Made him easier to handle.

However, after a shower and her first cup of coffee, the world took on an amber hue. _'__This place looks amazing!__' _She indulged in a pirouette in the middle of her recently-cleared living room floor to test it out. _'__Feels silly, but in a good way.__'_

She flicked on the stereo and let morning music accompany her getting dressed. _'__Maybe the Pandora oracle can tell me what my new feng shui will draw in.__' _

_**Three little birds sit by my doorstep…**_

Lanie smiled and swayed over to choose her outfit, singing along to the music in her resonant, always-on-key voice. _**"**__**Singing sweet songs, a melody pure and true**__**…" **_

As she bopped around her bedroom drawing out her accessories, her voice rose in volume to match the 'Voice of the Islands.' _**"**__**Don**__**'**__**t worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright**__**…" **_

The song had never made sense to Parrish. '_The rest of the album, yes: class warfare, social uprising, men and women, dancing__…__all the __**other**__ songs make sense. But this one? It__'__s happy and beautiful, but how can someone in the midst of so much injustice and struggle, be so sure that unbearable suffering, or worse, isn__'__t just around the corner? Where__'__s he get off having that kind of faith?__' _It'd never seemed logical to Lanie 'top-of-her-class/got-her-shit-together' Parrish. For her, the price of understanding the political and economic implications of warfare and imperialism for the people who dwelt at the bottom of the food chain was often pessimism. She wondered if Mr. Jah-love would retract his assertion, if she ever got the opportunity to interview souls who had crossed over.

Still, as she listened to the song with new ears, she couldn't deny that every fiber of the singer believed the sentiment. And right or wrong, that kind of fervor for something that everyone _**wanted**_ to be true was contagious.

'_Apparently, removing evil coffee tables is good for pirouettes __**and**__ optimism.' _

After Parrish finished with her makeup, she took a selfie that included only half her proudly smiling face with her grand open dance floor behind it.

"Beckett's gonna love this when it's time for Mojito Twister." Ever since Ryan had mentioned playing the innocent game with his niece, she was itching to have a rematch with Kate. Even without skyscraper legs, Lanie was sure she had the goods to win, too.

Parrish opened Kate's last incoming text and replied by attaching the photo and adding a message.

\o/

* * *

Just before Javier Esposito turned off his phone for takeoff, he checked his messages one more time. If they had to sit on the tarmac, he didn't want to hear the binging sounds of incoming alerts. He wanted to be sleeping. He was bone tired after a week full of exciting rescues and emotional roller coasters. Javier was the type to be so 'on' when he was 'on,' that he slept **hard** when it was finally time to go off-duty.

To his surprise the only message was from Lanie.

_Incoming Text from L. Parrish: __"_Hope you're home safe soon. Notice I've made a few changes while you were gone. Ready for Twister rematch?"

'_Well, that's a little forward for the prim Miss Parrish.' _

He spent a few moments working over a reply, and thinking about whether or not he really wanted a 'rematch.' A lot had happened in the last 14 days. He wasn't entirely sure that he was up for something meaningless after wading neck-deep through a river of gravity and honesty. _'__Maybe everything will go back to __'__normal__' __after I sleep in my own bed.__' _ He knew it was rarely a good idea to commit to things while still 'on vacation.'

Eventually he came up with something that was true without opening or closing too many doors. Even though she had started their usual game of text tag with innuendo, he decided it would be less confusing to use the 'voice' that Lanie really seemed to respond to. After typing a reply, he rested the phone between his legs to ruminate on why his Lanie would have written something so out of character, combing through their last interactions for clues to anything that might have changed.

\o/

* * *

Just as the medical examiner was about to slice open an aorta, she heard her phone buzz. She removed her gloves and crossed the lab to her desk.

_Incoming Text from Javibaby:_ "Thanks for being concerned about me while I was gone. I need a really good nap when I get home. But afterwards, let's talk about the possibility of a 'Round 2.' Sound good?"

Parrish had no idea that Espo's text was a reply to the multi-recipient message she'd accidentally sent him earlier. Beckett had already responded with a swift, "You betcha, bring it on," just moments after Lanie had depressed her send button. Javi's response came more than half a day later. In her mind, Javier Esposito had just sent her the most mature, well organized, and honest message in the history of their relationship _**out of the blue**_.

She nearly fell off her feet when she read it._ '__Good thing I__'__m not wearing heels.__'_

In stunned slow-motion, she placed her device on a pile of paperwork and paced once around her morgue. Despite never having changed his nickname in her phone's contact list, Lanie really had no idea if she wanted Espo back. After her cryfest last night, Parrish wasn't sure what kind of relationship she really wanted. She hadn't been shedding tears of regret over Javi specifically. He was just another illustration of the problem, _her_ problem. Certainly, he had issues of his own, but she knew that wasn't the real reason she'd pushed him to arms' length.

Lanie Parrish had been forcing the details of her life into what she thought they _**should be**_ for so long, she hadn't left enough room to allow people to show up in it how they _**actually were**_.

Maybe it was the comfortable shoes. Maybe it was the third cup of coffee. Maybe it was the magic of chi flowing unencumbered through her apartment. Whatever the cause, on that particular Friday, Lanie really wanted to hear what Javier had to say on the subject of their getting back together. _'__Perhaps, I__'__m __put together __strong enough, that a little dismantling from the hottest detective in the 12th precinct wouldn__'__t be such a bad problem to have.__' _

She picked up her phone and took a deep breath.

\o/

* * *

Before Javier stowed his cell in his carryon, he received one more message.

_Incoming Text from L. Parrish: "_I think I'd like that."

\o/

* * *

Not even the unexpected turn of events with Lanie could keep Javier from crashing out for the entire flight home. Kevin ordered two rum and cokes from the stewardess, but drank them both when Espo wouldn't rouse. As he lifted the glass off Javi's tray, he magnanimously explained to his sleeping partner, "I'll take care of this, bro, cause I'm that kinda friend."

Soon after, Ryan joined him in slumber, allowing Castle the ripe opportunity of squiggling handlebar mustaches on both sleeping detectives with his favorite book-signing sharpie. Of course, the author had the marker handy when he'd entered the airport, in case they came across a fan. He'd already signed half a dozen versions of MuseBeckett's naked silhouette since they boarded the plane. Castle thought himself a benevolent celebrity, but he liked to get it out of the way first thing, so he could relax the rest of the flight.

When he readied his pen, however, Castle never imagined he'd have so much fun with Espo and Ryan.

Rick used his camera phone to take a series of portraits of both detectives with their new facsimile facial hair. He had to exaggerate Esposito's with curly-Q's at the ends in order to give it the appropriate embarrassing effect, otherwise Espo looked disappointingly good in a black mustache. Ryan's canvas, on the either hand, provided a wealth of doodling fun.

Castle began his portrait of the Irishmen with a thin line of black, something akin to the Pink Panther's ever-comical Inspector Cuso. When that photo op yielded pure gold, he added a pointy downward triangle on Ryan's chin intimating the anti-hero of V for Vendetta. Castle bit his fist to quiet his urge to 'squee' at his own handiwork, but when not even the hissing laughter that escaped his throat disturbed the young detective, he dared to try one more level of fun.

"Castle, what are you doing?" Kate eyed him suspiciously.

"Nothing, dear." Rick had never been more pleased to be lobbing cliches like a long-married couple as his fiance approached to investigate the source of his guilty smile.

Katherine's eyes grew in alarm before she slyly added, "You took pictures, right?"

\o/

* * *

Kevin and Javier roused as the flight attendants passed through the cabin collecting the final round of debris from passengers.

Javi noticed the darkened sky and city lights far below the airplane's window. "Bro, how long was I out for?"

Kev stretched his arms overhead. "Dunno. I must've drifted off, too."

"Well, it must've been a helluva long flight, cause it looks like you had time to get a tattoo." He pointed at his partner's face.

"A Wha?" Kevin rushed for his phone and reversed the camera image to show him his own face. High on his right cheek, near the corner of his eye, an unmistakeable black diamond decorated his face. He noticed a silly mustache too, but the chin 'hair' was mostly washed away by a combination of drool and sweat which transferred the mark onto his pillow.

Ryan spit and swabbed vigorously at his new ink. "Man, Castle, you are so dead. If you think Kai-Rhee was bad, I'mma set you up with Sister Mary Ignatious. We'll see just how _artistic_ you're feeling after one of her 'workouts.' Fires of damnation are way scarier than anything we blew up yesterday!"

Esposito snickered. Since Castle had survived a taste of the deep fryer that had forged him in the military, Javi was feeling closer than ever with their shadow. After enjoying two weeks of windfalls that allowed Javier to one-up the author, Espo expected, even welcomed, retaliation in the form of pranks. And Kevin looked hilarious.

Ryan alerted, "Looks like he got you, too."

Esposito turned Ryan's screen toward his own face to investigate, but quickly decided to leave it. He didn't have the inclination to smudge up Castle's permanent marker with a bunch of futile rubbing. It wasn't doing Ryan any good, and from the redness and smearing all over his partner's face, it seemed to make matters worse.

When the flight attendant walking by turned her head to smirk at Javier, he knew he'd made the best decision. Plus, it was so entertaining to throw people off balance as he walked about in dead-pan. _'Kinda makes me look forward to the baggage carousel.'_

When Kevin offered a wet-nap to his friend, Javier waved it off. "I think I'mma leave it 'til I get home." Espo settled back into his seat with an exaggerated ease designed to fluster his partner into a huff, explaining, "Seems, lately, I can do no wrong."

* * *

_**Flying home. Epilogue forthcoming to knot all our ribbons into bows.** **Breaking up is hard to do, but everybody needs sleep after that much ass-kicking and push-upping, I suppose. Personally, I'd be content to move into a simple life with Kai-Rhee on the island, but since she's moving on to brave new horizons, I suppose I'll need to, too.**_

The next muse is turning out to be a very different flavor than Cassie or Kai-Rhee (aren't they all?) I'm wishing luck to all the Castle fanfic authors and readers, myself included, that the thrill ride of Season 7 allows us to create _MORE_ than angst and love interrupted by crime scenes.

_**I**__**'**__**m grateful, humbled, floored and flying because of your support of this story and my first novel-length fiction.**_ If I'm lucky, I'll read this one day and cringe at all the newbie mistakes I didn't know I was making, but since you excellent people were kind enough to listen to the muse relate her story despite all my ignorance, the least I can do is view it with grace. _Gracias por todo! Merci beaucoup!_

_Special shout to GordonRupe on Twitter whose Castle Trivia research on each episode is a goldmine of easter eggs for Fanfic writers. Keep swinging! _

_**Next up: Homecoming. **_


	28. Epilogue

Epilogue

The sound of car keys dropping on a credenza had never made Kate Beckett so happy. They were home. Not just to New York, but to Rick's loft. She dropped her bags and raced to the bedroom. She couldn't get the travel grime off her fast enough.

"Little hurry?" the author inquired as she streaked past him.

Running straight through to the bathroom, she called over her shoulder, "Gotta take a shower. Feel like hell. You can join me if you want!"

It was a rushed and friendly invitation, but that would do. Richard Castle had spent more years than he cared to count hoping that Kate Beckett would one day invite him to do something so wholly miraculous as take a shower with her. Just because he'd already seen that fantasy come to fruition two dozen times was no reason to treat it as anything less than the miracle it was.

"Good thing, I'm dirty too," he said after disrobing. Once he'd peeled back what separated him from the source of heat and steam in the room, he slid in behind her. Rick steadied himself on his feet, waiting to touch her, restraining himself from any contact except save one. He began kissing her on the shoulder. Sucking in the sweetness of her scent, her taste, her too-perfect-to-be-real feel against his lips. That was always the best part for Castle: the waiting.

"Mmm." She exhaled a simple stress-releasing moan as the water ran over her hands.

With his mouth still pressed to her shoulder, he exhaled with her, relishing the wait, focusing on the few inches of space between them. The electricity of attraction charged the air that bounced between their bodies. He spoke into her shoulder with smushed lips, pressing the words into her bones and skin. "This is nice."

Life came a little too easily to the likes of Richard Castle. Not that he didn't have challenges, or doubts, or demons to face. Everyone had those as far as he could tell. But once success came his way (the outward kind), life folded itself up into a Chinese to-go box of sorts. On the outside he stood with his throngs of fans, his money, and his ability to make a few quick calls and charm his way into whatever caught his fancy. It was the place that everyone wanted to be, that every road map pointed to. Freedom. Security. The best chance for survival. The urge to get there was a biological imperative that only a privileged few ever reached.

Yet standing on the outside of the flimsy, yet durable, container, he often looked in shouting over the flaps that folded in on themselves, _'Hey, in there! How's the party? Can I come back in?'_

Richard was logical and sane enough to know that giving up his riches would be a stupid idea. The money allowed him to exist in the world as a creative. He would always write, even if he lost every dime. But the money allowed him to do so with his head up. People liked what he did and that made the world, and his place in it, secure in a different way. The freedom he found there was no less precious than the kind that his monetary gains had brought.

The only way Rick could settle his nerves, to quell the desire to jump back into the to-go box was to reach into it with both hands and hold onto something real, something inside the box filled with ordinary, extraordinary humans. He did it with his writing sometimes, but that wasn't enough. For Richard to feel whole, he had to use his corporeal hands, to grab onto something so real and right that his entire being would be dragged back into the struggle for existence. To love. To love something beautiful and thereby be dragged with it through the annals of time and torture, indescribable joy and sacrifice, the true human existence.

"Mmm-hmm, niiiiiiiice," she agreed.

He hummed in crumpled pronunciation, "Sso very."

Over the years, children, people in pain, they often outstretched their hands and pulled him back into the sticky sauce of life and consequently into his best self. But those encounters ended. Afterwards, Richard would find himself on the outside of the container again standing handsomely, yet stiffly, like the cardboard cut-outs of his life-size image that stood next to end-cap displays of his books. It made him feel like a cheeky advertisement for life. A salesmen for success. A vapid reminder that it's better to be safe than sorry.

Even though he had everything that a man could want in life, before he met Katherine, he didn't have what he really needed: a **reason** to have it all.

"Hand me the soap, babe?"

He used his idle hands to fulfill her wish, without grazing her, protectively guarding the anticipation building between their bodies. "Here."

Of course, Alexis had been his reason to thrive for so long, and still was in many ways. But a child can't be a friend the way an adult can. Richard was guilty of befriending Alexis when he didn't know how to parent her. Luckily, the fates had blessed him with a daughter perfectly suited for such an arrangement, but that didn't change his need for a true partner.

She hissed, "Thanks, lover."

When they had first met, Katherine Beckett was sharp and fierce, but just as 'small' as he was at that time. She was formidable and tough, but unable to give and take from others except through the smallest bank teller window of safely sanitized transactions. He'd had to yell and mime messages through her bulletproof glass, which turned out to be fine since, at the time, he'd been incapable of saying much of anything worth listening to anyhow. His own bank vault filled with genuine ability to invest, to risk, to exchange emotional currency was under the same kind of armed guard that held **_her_** heart hostage.

"Anytime, sweetness." He punctuated the lazy adoration of his lips with a distinct, audible kiss. He pulled his head away to bring his view of her from behind into focus. His eyes followed the water down her scalp as it ran like a waterfall over her. Her hair extended down her back with the weight of the saturation, a symbol of her lengthening reach toward him, and all the beauty she let others see, that she no longer tried to hide.

Since their engagement, she had opened up in a new way. Someday, they would remove the albatross of her mother's death from around her neck, and then the sparks would really fly. Castle was sure of it. Richard wanted to be there to see her explode in a stellar nursery, to blind him with her fully human capacity to love like the stars gave light to the universe, with radiance unfettered.

She asked, "Shampoo?"

He answered, "Allow me."

Until then, waiting was Richard's best chance to bridge the gap. With his hands innocently in her hair, he could build the energy, create tension inside himself that longed to be part of her experience. By keeping his body away from hers until he couldn't stand it any longer, and then waiting longer, until SHE couldn't stand it any longer, he was assured that they'd produce something like a solar flare when they finally touched. The waiting kept him sane, and focused, humble and ever so human.

Waiting for Kate in the interstellar green room kept Richard Castle moving in the right direction, so that when she at last took stage to form her star, he would be close enough to get caught in the blast.

"Oooo, that feels good, mmm."

"The least I could do."

Somewhat unconsciously, he had tested the limits of their relating during the last 2 weeks. First, Kate had to navigate the week apart, then, his decision to extend. And throughout, she had to put up with childish behavior of every stripe. The unusual culture and compatriots of the isle had allowed him to test just how much juvenile Ricky he could bring into their partnership while still remaining her hero. Even though he relished the man that she brought out in him, and the creative problem solver she gave him cause to be, life pressed too heavily on them to survive without the ability to fantasize, to be silly, to laugh like immature asses.

Krypton pushed Castle's body, but even moreso his drive to be a **boy** and a **man** at alternating intervals. Kate had proved over the last two weeks that she was his perfect mate when she allowed him to be both.

"Uhhh huhhh," she agreed, reveling in the tingles his fingers summoned from her scalp, and the consequent star shower of pleasure that gently shimmered through her body.

"You've been such a good sport about the whole superhero-in-training thing."

Wrapping two grateful hands around her waist, he leaned his forehead on the subtle ridge rolling to her shoulders. Her neck was heaven, mostly because it was a place reserved for lovers. His head had only gained admission to the world's sweetest pillow by winning her heart.

"Don't mention it. It's not like I haven't asked the same of you."

\o/

* * *

After washing out the rest of her shampoo, and carefully raking conditioner through her sleek wet hair, Castle rested his head on her opposite shoulder with an exaggerated sigh of relief. _'__So glad we__'__re home! And safe!__' _

Beckett inquired, "You okay, babe?"

"Kate, I'm so very glad you didn't go boom."

She brightened as she brought her right foot to rest on the hip-height handle bar and picked up her razor, knowing that her fiancé loved to watch her smooth her hands slowly over every inch of her legs one at a time. "Me too, Castle. I think we should have a strict no blowing up policy in this marriage. Can we agree to that?"

He broke from the mesmerizing spell of her intricate leg work. "I dunno. I'm still gonna write explosions into my books. Apparently, _Island Heat_ has a ton of C4 involved."

"So, Kai-Rhee's a muse too, huh? Should I be jealous?" She continued sliding over her own curves without turning to see his expression.

"Only if you're Lanie, or Espo, I suppose… but I'm not gonna tell the Master Sergeant until I've got something drafted that might sway her into giving her blessing." His mind ignited with his own prompt, picking up with the brainstorm he'd started earlier in the day. "What do you think of riding into the island on sharks?"

Kate gracefully switched which leg she would lavish her attentions upon. "I think it sounds …" She considered a polite way to say 'utterly ridiculous.' "…hard to pull off."

"Yeah, that's why it works for them." Suddenly aflutter with creative excitement, he took the soap into his hands and lathered his own chest, and arms, and slope of neck that hung with powerful new toys. "They take on things that are too hard to pull off! It appears on the outside that both Ochoa and the Evans character are heading through a series of failures, but in truth they're just too hungry for challenges that outmatch them. They can't be satisfied with taking on anything they know they'll do well. So instead they keep running into deeper and more dangerous waters until eventually they end up naked in the ocean riding sharks. Symbolic yes?"

His question made her pause bent over her own leg like a dancer at the barre. Silently, she considered her fiance's profession, and the third person it sometimes created in their relationship.

"Whattaya think?"

'_I think you need to do 200 push-ups to make up for talking about your work while we are nude.' _With an eye roll, Katherine acquiesced to the reality that she loved ALL of Castle, not just the more convenient parts. As she replaced her blade and straightened to rinse, she teased delicately, "I think you're entirely too focused on bringing clothes-free Kai-Roc into our shower scene. Maybe we could talk about this later? It already feels a little crowded in here."

"Right. Sorry. Again. …I'm doing a really bad job of showing you just how happy I am to be marrying you in a few weeks. But the truth is I've never been on a higher cloud 9. When I get excited the plot bunnies breed!" He offered a weak smile, "It's really a _**symptom**_ of how happy I am with you that my mind keeps exploding with bizarre ideas."

'_Why does he keep referencing explosions? Haven't we had enough this week? My dad would say its back luck to call in something thrice.' _

Richard went on to point out, "If I start doing sudoku instead of writing, you'll know I'm not happy for one reason or another." He lathered his hands to make it up to her.

Katherine, ever at the end of his lead, prided an unconvinced, "Mmmm-hm."

Coating her hips in tiny bubbles, he explained, "This week, once you joined us, was a thrill a minute." He pinched her hip bones closer to his own, allowing her to experience for herself the blood rushing through him in heightened arousal. "_**You **_are what excites me."

He crushed the anticipation between their bodies. Kissing the back of her neck, Rick swept her wet hair into a twist he could hold onto and used it as lever to turn her head. With a bite of her shoulder crease, he promised, "After we are clean, and better rested, I can't wait to take a spin on our closed course and show you what I've learned this week."

Beckett's breath sequestered itself inside her lungs, lust leaving her on lockdown.

He drew his free hand down the front of her body from the bullet-shaped scar on her sternum to her belly button, marking his runway. "I just know I can go the distance now that I've had two weeks of upgrades to my engine."

"Nhhh." A fugitive sigh escaped her, but disappeared before he could catch its meaning.

"You're still gonna help me with my after photo. Right?"

She let her head fall back in surrender to the pleasure his hands, and lips, and steely curves created behind her.

"Yesssss," in breathy alto rose from Kate's lips, mingling with the steam of the shower. "Are you sure we need to wait?"

He kissed a line around the back of her neck from one shoulder to the other, intending to create a necklace of star-studded desire around her delicately sloping deltoids. Rick loved to taste her at that angle. Katherine Beckett, without her heels, was absolutely the perfect height for sampling.

"O my love, everything, _**everything**_ too good to be true requires waiting."

He let his hand endeavor southerly, closer to Richard Castle's happiest place on earth. It caused Katherine to arch wildly and slide her curves downward against his body. She sighed in a weakened dizzy spell. Bodily want and soul crushing craving stole any possibility for suggestive wordplay from her quaking lips.

With his greatest muse melting against him, slipping into a trance of surrender to his charms, Castle explained, "You taught me that."

\o/

* * *

After sleeping most of the day Saturday, Javier knew he needed to eat something before he could return to bed, but he wasn't optimistic about the contents of a refrigerator that hadn't been opened in 7 days.

He held his breath before opening the refrigerator door. Even the smell of spoiled milk and wilting lettuce couldn't abate his hunger, but there weren't many choices that had survived the week. _'__Wait. Didn__'__t Ryan leave me the rest of his sandwich?__' _

Espo rummaged through his still-packed carryon. _'__Even something from last night will be fresher than what I__'__ve got here.__' _ Bachelors live a simple life.

The sandwich didn't smell like it was worth the risk, but the bag included a box from the Terminal Bakery that Ryan hadn't managed to finish. He opened it full of unearned hope that the answer to his dreams would be inside.

"_Oh, bro, nobody loves me the way you do!__" _Epso brought a ring of fried refined flour to his famished lips, covering them with powered sugar. The rest of the donut disappeared in three swift bites.

When he noticed the snowfall of excess sucrose scattered all over his bag because he hadn't waited to get a plate or napkin, Javi reached to brush it off the flap. The motion flipped the bag open, revealing 3 manuscripts, all begging to be read.

Javier set one thick set of pages on his coffee table, and went to fetch a glass of water. After washing his hands of sweet fingerprints, he returned to check out the first few pages. The Title page read simply:

**The Journals of Lt. Commander Earnest Percival Walker**

**Vol. I**

**transcribed by V. Evans**

Apparently, Kai-Rhee's stepfather was a religious man. The next page appeared to be a dedication page, with a number of biblical verses and a few lines of centered text.

_**"Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen." Matthew 21:21**_

_To whom it may concern,_

_I write these pages not for vanity, but for posterity. _

_If I should perish before I can bear witness,_

_Tell my brothers that I saw them. _

_Tell my mother that I loved her. _

_Tell my friends they have already saved me from damnation. _

_I lived my life a thousand times over because they entrusted me with their confidence. _

_-EPW_

_**"…It is on this Rock I will build my congregation, and the powers of hell will not conquer it." Matthew 16:18**_

Intrigued, Javier flipped the page and began to read.

\o/

* * *

At 3 am on Sunday morning, New York City was as quiet as it ever gets.

Katherine Beckett was warm and safe, held in the arms of the man who'd walk through fire to be by her side.

Richard Castle was flinging imaginary ammo from a magical arbalest in a dreamscape where he and his friends could fly and regenerate and locate the source of all evil simply by listening for the sound of diabolical laughter.

Upstairs, Alexis had fallen asleep cuddled next to Martha. Laughter lines still creased their faces, between them a dogeared and wine-spilt copy of Much Ado About Nothing lay opened with highlighter marking the passage for her term paper:

_**'Not unless I can have a husband for working days, **__**Your grace is too costly for everyday.**__**'**_

Across town, another set of women slept off their merriment. However, the tome laying open between them was Lanie Parrish' junior high yearbook, which had provided so much amusement after a night of clubbing, that both she and Tory surrendered to sleep on the couch rather than make their way to proper beds.

A short el ride away, Kevin Ryan was dangling, draped like a high wire between his bed and the bassinet, pushed into a curious configuration by the tiny person who'd refused to quiet into sleep unless daddy had one hand on her back, enforcing her tyranny with a wail each time he thought it safe to remove.

His partner, two neighborhoods away, was in a suspended state of another kind.

\o/

* * *

Amongst the glowing bulbs of strung lights that criss-crossed his street year round, Javier Esposito's turn of the century apartment building stood like a transcontinental railroad tie, hammered into the earth, unmoved my the passage of time.

Inside, one NYPD homicide detective flipped to read page 364 of the manuscript his friend had entrusted to him. He kicked at the blanket to try to recover his feet which had managed to wriggle out of the throw due to his chronic ankle twitch. Unconsciously drawing another sip from the cool oolong tea that came lagniappe with his take out dinner, he didn't have a spare neural pathway for practical thoughts that might advise against caffeine at late hours. The story he was reading put an unbridgeable distance between him and all the clocks.

**'_In these days, when fear finds itself a home in every heart…'_**

Javier was a mover. He could count on 2 hands the number of books (without pictures) that had held him still for more than 100 pages. Still, Walker's story about his first days on the front lines, and the boys-turned-men by his side, already had him thirsty to read volumes two and three.

**'_I can tell already that not many of us will be coming home…'_**

When Esposito latched on to something hard, it was forever. Without his permission, the treatise had already enlisted him into a firm commitment to translate the remaining volumes, if Kai-Rhee became too busy with her new life in veteran rehabilitation.

**'_And those that do, will be forever changed…'_**

Since reading had never been a huge part of Javier's life, the Commander's voice wasn't adding itself to a chorus of autobiographical wisdom that he'd already digested. It was taking the podium to fill a void the man never knew existed.

**'_When I look to my right and left…'_**

Even though Javier Esposito had no idea that Ernest Walker had been the one to notice his keen eye during a routine evaluation of his platoon leader, nor that his Captain pushed him into sharpshooter training and trying out for the Special Forces at Walker's advice, he still felt like the Lt. Commander's journals were meant specifically for him.

**'_I see eyes sharpened with desire…'_**

Javier couldn't believe that a kid too young to legally drink had written the words on the page. If each new entry hadn't started with a first person account of events that happened 'today,' Espo would have thought that Kai-Rhee had taken some creative license with the retelling, adding her own eye for strategic asset deployment. As it was, it revealed the Valkyrie's seemingly inborn ability to lead to be an _acquired_ skill. He felt like he was reading the program code behind her knack to direct others for maximum effect, a set of instructions he'd somehow missed.

**'_Or dulled with doubt…'_**

Javi's brain wasn't in the habit of thinking about people in terms of utility. He considered himself a decent strategist in terms of deploying physical resources and covering alternative fail-safes, but he never thought of team building in the way the journals described.

**'_I believe both are sides of the same coin…'_**

To him, people were made of heart first, and skill second. Espo would rather have a trustworthy partner who could barely hold a gun, than a world-class marksman who might turn on him when it really counted. Trust paid enough dividends to Javier that his confidence could insure his whole team. Everyone he stood with fed him strength. That's why he functioned comfortably in a strict chain of command that lessened his need to manage all that feedback.

**'_the currency we seek to exchange for manhood, for power…' _**

Esposito wanted to read every page slowly. Reading Walker's thoughts in first person, letting the alien train of thought curl around the voice in his head, felt akin to acquiring a new foreign language without having to study. Steeping himself in the mind of a natural leader felt nourishing, as if he could fortify himself in advance for a time when he might need to direct others.

**'_Each of us is hunting for our homestead…'_**

Detective Esposito had no intentions of abandoning his post. It had been good to him while he reclaimed the last few ounces of strength from the jaws of trauma. His team at the 12th, his partner, his city, they were non-negotiable. He wasn't looking forward to the day when that continuity would be canceled. But after seeing Kai-Rhee's good thing crumble under her feet, he was forced to consider the possibility that their wild ride as Castle's Angels couldn't last forever. If his bout with PTSD had taught him anything, it was that people don't always get to choose the challenges that come their way.

**'_for something that is truly ours…'_**

Beckett was getting married. Eventually she might be promoted, or start a family, or both. Maybe someday he and Ryan would need to call the shots in the bullpen.

**'_for our piece of the god-head that grace calls us to give in service…'_**

Walker's writing seemed to have a tap on what Esposito would need to run the show. The detective was confident that he and his partner had the skills to solve cases, but authority took more than that. It took cultivation. Kai-Rhee's step-father was the rare man who immediately saw the avatar of each person's actualized self trapped inside the struggle of sinew. Even at a young age, he seemed to be strategizing ways to help the greater human being escape and contribute his or her part. Reading his words, it was clear that long before Walker had any rank to authorize it, he had a way of directing people that drew out their genius.

**'_One brother has a gift for silence, another a gift for speed, another the hawk's eye, another patience…' _**

Esposito recalled Joey, the orphan teen who thought himself streetwise. It had taken Javi years of weekly phone calls to get the kid to hear a word he said. After overestimating the power of his goodwill the first night they met, Espo had needed to resort to handcuffs to make the kid behave. There _had_ to be a better way of motivating folks for their own good. It was so clear to Javier where righteousness illuminated the path under his feet, but so difficult to communicate to others.

**'_These talents, undeveloped, are the devil's workshop…' _**

He didn't want to turn into a Gates, or a Kevin, or a Castle. They each had their own way of getting what they wanted from people, but all 3 threw sophisticated jab, right hook, haymaker combinations of dramatic silence and subtle phrasing that hoodwinked people into pliancy. Espo could never be bothered with scroll-length verbal ninja onslaught. He knew he'd be a spectacular failure at such deceit.

**'_But plucked out and preened, we make the fletchings of the Almighty's arrow…' _**

But Javier _**could**_ remind people that 'tomorrow isn't guaranteed,' that our actions decide how we'll show up to Dias De Los Muertos. Keeping it real for people who got distracted by stupid shit seemed like the clearest path to understanding. Perhaps with Walker's help, he'd have an easier time showing people what's really important, _**before**_ they got themselves trapped in a crisis of anxiety.

**'_Four feathers, one spine…'_**

As the dark hours of night crept toward sunrise, Javier could feel the pages of his life turning with increased speed. He knew that if he and Ryan were going to lead instead of follow in the next chapter of their lives, they'd need a lot more back-up. But somehow, reading Kai-Rhee's story, he could feel reinforcements already beginning to arrive.

'_**When I'm afraid that I'm not enough, that I'm not smart enough to solve the archer's paradox, I trust the Psalm that tells me… **__**"**__**The God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless…He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.***__**" **_

With that, Esposito repurposed his take out menu as a bookmark, and re-stacked Evans' pages. After arching his back to stretch, he stood to find his bed, stopping first to pitch to-go boxes in the trash.

Javi had a lot to think about. But he was crystal clear that going to work on Monday would still give him a solid thrill when he woke up. _'It'll be nice to see the 12th again, and Ryan, and Beckett, and even Castle.' _ It occurred to him that it had only been a week since he'd seen 'his Lanie,' though it felt like much, much longer.

He climbed into bed with more questions than answers circumambulating his awareness.

A good soldier always had one eye on preparation, but the world he already knew was a damn good one. Javier resolved to jump into their next case with every bit of commitment he had._ 'Nothing is worth wasting chances. Who cares if I look foolish? Who cares if Ryan and Castle poke fun? Who cares if Lanie's still trippin on stupid shit? My lettin' it hold me back? What's worse? Gettin' hurt, or livin' like I'm scared to take the fall?'_

He reached to rotate the switch that would kill the artificial illumination, allowing the room to flood with moonlight. As his eyes braced to readjust, Javi reassured himself with something he barely believed, but needed to hear. _"Nah. When it's my time, I'mma be ready."_

\o/

* * *

_**Sincere thanks to the people brave enough to follow their creative demons into an art-making career, especially those who collectively create Castle. We mundane folks, struggling through livelihoods of earth and metal, are lucky to be abducted into your fandom to ride your coattails through the stars. **_

_Anyone still reading this massive fic (with less words than Moby Dick, but more than Madame Bovary) is already one of my favorite people. The Master Sergeant & I salute your commitment and focus, especially considering the wonderful distractions of premier hoopla everywhere._

_Special thanks to reviewers, favorite-ers, and followers like: CFPromoter, CastleFicathon, Normantipton, OnkelJo, Schlitzi2000, Tom1292, Wilsalx, Zelda100, sugar free vanilla, pamelalexandria, melanie2591, MaineCastle, Caskettlover2, theputz, shutterbug, shellee3, genedoc, sammysgirl78, southerngirl1, ConcreteAngel, LoveAbby, BigKahuna, MLN, PurpleSatin, JKOVE24, CharacterDriven, and Guests_

_Gratitude for beta help in the beginning: SelimPensFiction, TeaCakeAndHappyThoughts, GeekMom_

_And an enthusiastic cartwheel for the pom-poms (and short skirts) of JJS4, FuelDH206, and teambromance_

_****__****__**Thanks for hiding out with me over hiatus!**_ _**I**__**'**__**d love to hear from you about the story or any Season 7 excitement via PM, DM, Review or Tweet at WOMLWOML, Peace. **_

_****__****__*__Psalm 18: 32-34_


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